The suspect allegedly donned shoulder holsters with loaded pistols and spare ammunition magazines and carried a U.S. Marshal badge on a lanyard and belt clip federal ID.
A Robert Kennedy Jr. campaign event in Los Angeles turned into a chaotic scene on Friday night, when a man loaded up with pistols and spare ammunition magazines was apprehended by city police.
A man with a loaded gun was arrested outside a campaign event for Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a neighborhood of Los Angeles on Friday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Adrian Aispuro, 44, was taken into custody and charged with a felony after impersonating a U.S. Marshal, the LAPD said in a report obtained by NBC News.
LAPD released tape Aispuro made on Tik Tok which shows an unseen cameraman walking along the front of a ranch-style house with a Betsy Ross flag, till he reaches the garage where Aispuro stands beside a motorcycle, with a pistol at his hip and a badge hanging around his neck. The man makes a number of bizarre statements, referring to either himself or the person filming as “God’s gangster,” and encouraging viewers to visit Rumble—a YouTube alternative known for hosting extremist content—and view the content of two hosts who have promoted QAnon-flavored conspiracy theories about aliens, shape-shifting reptilians, and the supposed “deep state cabal.”
Aispuro also expressed a belief his name has a special numerological significance, tells the interviewer to check the “gemetria “ of his names and then “do your fuckin’ research” into what his name means. and he expresses a plan to communicate with the rival Hells Angels and Mongols motorcycle gangs.
In a post to X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter, Kennedy said . . . . that he was grateful to Gavin de Becker and Associates, a private security firm, for spotting and detaining “an armed man who attempted to approach him.”
Asked if the man entered the theater, the LAPD told NBC News that Aispuro was outside of the venue, then was taken into custody, and at no time did he brandish a gun or threaten anyone.
Kennedy had submitted a formal request for Secret Service protection by the Department of Homeland Security in July but that request was denied, according to his campaign.
Based on the facts and the recommendations of the advisory committee, I have determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not warranted at this time,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ office said at the time.