The Secret Service will end its protection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now that he has stopped campaigning for president, law enforcement sources said.
President Biden (81) ordered security authorities to provide protection for former President Kennedy (70) following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump (78) last month.
Kennedy had been lobbying publicly and privately for Secret Service protection for months, citing a variety of security concerns. Political motivation They were the reason for his delay in getting it.
At one point, Kennedy’s legal team claimed they had received 34 lengthy pieces of evidence raising threats and concerns about him. Newsweek reportedKennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his father, Bobby Kennedy, were both assassinated in the 1960s.
And on Friday, former independent presidential candidate RFK Jr. announced he was “pausing, but not ending” his run for the White House, effectively withdrawing from the race.
The environmental lawyer has revealed plans to remove his name from the ballot in about a dozen battleground states and accompanied Trump to a rally in Arizona on Friday to endorse him.
Technically, Kennedy’s name will still appear on the ballot in less competitive states, but he is widely expected to campaign alongside Trump again in the future.
The Secret Service typically provides protection to the president, vice president, their immediate family, former presidents, visiting heads of state, children of former presidents up to age 16, former first ladies, and top presidential candidates.
If a candidate declines, it is standard procedure for the Secret Service to at least scale back, if not eliminate, its protection entirely.
The Secret Service is facing a tough battle following an assassination attempt at a rally for President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, in which the would-be assassin’s bullet grazed President Trump’s right ear.
The suspect, Thomas Matthew Crooks, crawled across the roof of a shed and got about 130 yards away from the former president. Firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed and two others in the crowd, David Duch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were seriously injured in the attack.
Kimberly Cheatle resigned as director of the Secret Service amid a wave of political pressure, and at least five security officials have been transferred to administrative positions and removed from operational planning because of the fiasco. ABC News reported..
What happened on July 13 is currently the subject of multiple ongoing investigations, including by the newly established bipartisan House Select Committee on Investigations, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.
Secret Service and Kennedy campaign sources did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s requests for comment on Sunday.
