On September 15, 2023, shortly before a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign event was about to begin, a man attempted to enter the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles through a non-public entrance. Dressed as a U.S. Marshal, in tactical clothing with a fake Marshal badge and other fake ID, Adrian Paul Aispuro had a .45 ACP pistol in a shoulder holster and was carrying a 9mm semi-automatic in a gym bag along with multiple loaded magazines for the two weapons.
(Fun fact: the Wilshire Ebell Theater is about two miles from the site of the now-demolished Ambassador Hotel, Where Robert F. Kennedy was murdered on June 6, 1968.)
When approached by Kennedy’s private security team, Aispuro said, “Take me to Kennedy immediately. I have to see him right now.” Upon questioning, he insisted he was “with the Marshals” and had been sent to see Kennedy. When his story fell apart, he was arrested.
Later that day, Aispuro was charged with one felony weapons charge and bail was set at $35,000. A warrant to search Aisporo’s home was also issued, and other weapons were found---a shotgun, an AR-15 and two other sniper-type rifles with high-end scopes and plenty of ammunition.
Three days later, defense counsel expressed doubts about his client’s mental competence and criminal proceedings were suspended pending a psychological evaluation of Aispuro.
Then, on September 21, the lone charge against him was reduced to a misdemeanor and bail was reduced to $10,000. The next day, one week following his attempt to approach Kennedy at the theater, Aispuro was released on bail. There are no conditions to his release, and there is no GPS monitoring of his whereabouts. Also, this happened before any psychological evaluation took place. To my knowledge, he still has not had a meeting with a psychiatrist or other professional.
Though his firearms were taken by the police, he has no criminal or mental health record (and is not even being charged with a felony), so there is nothing to stop him from legally replenishing his arsenal.
Aispuro could easily be charged with impersonating a federal agent as well as carrying loaded weapons without a concealed carry permit, (and probably twenty other charges). But all criminal proceedings are being handled by the L.A. District Attorney’s office, which has taken a more laid-back approach. Also, the FBI has never shown any interest in the case.
In 1968, the same day Bobby Kennedy was shot, LBJ extended Secret Service protection to all substantial presidential candidates. Every president since then has continued this tradition, which has now been in place for more than fifty years. The lone exception is the current administration, which has refused to provide protection for RFK, Jr. even though he has asked for it.
It is sometimes said that candidates are entitled to protection 120 days before an election, but there seems to be no legal basis for that. Certainly, many candidates get federal protection well before that. Barack Obama, because of perceived dangers, got Secret Service protection almost two years before his election.
Just imagine how many death threats RFK Jr. gets as a presidential candidate. In fact, he got them regularly even before he announced his candidacy.
And speaking of Obama, I will close with my own theory about this.
I have written that Biden is our figurehead president while Obama is the real one, and I think that is the reason RFK Jr. is getting no federal protection. It seems unlikely Joe Biden is even aware of the September attempt on Kennedy’s life, and the denial of federal protection doesn’t strike me as the sort of nastiness he would revel in. However, it is exactly the sort of snarky vindictiveness Obama was famous for. Denying routine federal protection to a presidential candidate Obama dislikes, whose father was murdered when he was a presidential candidate, is just the sort of inside joke that Barack, the smartest-kid-in-the-back-of-the-classroom, would find amusing.
(NOTE: Thanks and a hat tip to "Courageous Discourse,” a blog run by John Leake, where most of this information comes from.)
Copyright2023MichaelKubacki
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