A Heavily Armed Trump Supporter Arrested for Impersonating a US Marshal at RFK Jr’s Campaign Rally

A highly armed Trump supporter was detained for impersonating a US Marshal during a campaign event for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democratic presidential candidate in 2024, was refused Secret Service protection, a decision that is now being questioned by him.

An armed person, identified as Adrian Paul Aispuro, was detained during Kennedy's campaign rally in Los Angeles. Aispuro, 44, had pretended to be a member of Kennedy's security detail, complete with two loaded pistols in shoulder holsters and a U.S. Marshal badge. During the address, he attempted to approach the candidate, claiming to be a member of Kennedy's security staff, reports The Independent.

Aispuro was quickly spotted and seized by alert private security personnel from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA). The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded and arrested Aispuro, charging him with a felony for carrying a concealed weapon. His bail was set at 35,000 dollars. The motivations for Aispuro's acts are still being investigated. According to his brother, Raymond Aispuro, Adrian had been unemployed and was looking for temporary work. He had previously worked as an EMT and in private security, but he is currently unemployed.

His brother said in an interview with The Daily Beast, "He told me that he was in communication with someone about a gig, like a private contract gig, a one-time deal, and he had to go that day to work it.” Raymond Aispuro said, “I don’t know who he talks to or what, I just get whatever vague information he gives me.” “I really do think this is a situation where he got the wrong information or he trusted someone he shouldn’t have,”

Raymond Aispuro claimed the two rarely discuss politics, but that his brother is a staunch Trump supporter and that neither of them has received the COVID-19 vaccination, despite hearing a distressing unsubstantiated story about someone who had received the flu vaccine in 2016. “He does want, he’s said it multiple times, Donald Trump to be president of the United States again to fix this country,” Raymond Aispuro told the outlet.

Kennedy's request for Secret Service security has been a source of debate. Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), and a bipartisan committee dismissed Kennedy's plea for protection in July, per ABC News. This decision was taken despite Kennedy's assertions of unique security risks and death threats, citing his family's tragic history of political assassination.

Following the latest security violation at his campaign event, Kennedy repeated his desire for Secret Service protection. He bemoaned being the "first presidential candidate in history" to be denied such protection when he asked for it. Based on threat assessments and other variables, the Secret Service normally protects "major party candidates" within a year of the general election.

He wrote on X, previously known as Twitter, "I’m very grateful that alert and fast-acting protectors from Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA) spotted and detained an armed man who attempted to approach me at my Hispanic Heritage speech at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles tonight. The man, wearing two shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines was carrying a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and beltclip federal ID."

He added, "He identified himself as a member of my security detail. Armed GDBA team members moved quickly to isolate and detain the man until the LAPD arrived to make the arrest. I’m also grateful to the LAPD for its rapid response. I’m still entertaining a hope that President Biden will allow me Secret Service protection. I am the first presidential candidate in history to whom the White House has denied a request for protection."