DHS Secretary Mayorkas Confirms RFK Jr. Will Get Secret Service Protection

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Nixon library in Yorba Linda, Calif., on June 12, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, said on July 15 that Secret Service protection will be extended to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“In light of this weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection to Robert Kennedy Jr.,” Mr. Mayorkas said.

The announcement was made at a White House news briefing with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Mr. Mayorkas said security protection will be increased for 2024 presidential candidates and for this week’s Republican National Convention (RNC) after a 20-year-old man tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump on July 13.

While Mr. Kennedy, whose father and uncle were both assassinated less than five years apart, had asked DHS to provide him with Secret Service protection five times before this weekend’s events, he said the requests were denied.

In a statement posted to social media platform X minutes after the news briefing ended, Mr. Kennedy thanked President Joe Biden for extending him Secret Service protection.

“Thank you to President Biden for granting me Secret Service protection,” he said. “And I am so grateful to Gavin deBecker & Associates for keeping me safe for the last 15 months of my Presidential campaign.”

Mr. Mayorkas said RNC security has been ramped up.

“We have steadily increased implementation of significant physical and technical enhancements at every protective venue in support of protectees, including miles of anti-scale fencing, screening, technology, and tactical support,” he said.

Earlier in the day, former President Trump released a statement to his social media platform, Truth Social, calling for Mr. Kennedy to receive security protection.

“In light of what is going on in the world today, I believe it is imperative that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection—immediately. Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do!” the 45th president said.

In response, Mr. Kennedy posted to X, praising the remarks as a call to unity.

“It is a hopeful sign for our country when a political opponent calls for one’s protection. Maybe our country can unite after all,” he said.

Previous Requests

Mr. Kennedy said on April 25 that a “number” of his siblings had asked President Biden to authorize Secret Service protection for him, but that the DHS said he didn’t qualify. The most recent request came in late March.

Federal law indicates that it’s the president and the Secretary of Homeland Security who have the “broad discretion” to authorize Secret Service protection of presidential candidates.

Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, however, typically receive DHS security protection within 120 days of the first Tuesday of November in an election year.

Mr. Kennedy previously alleged that it was a “political” decision to deny his repeated requests for Secret Service protection.

“I worry about the safety of my family and the safety of bystanders if there happens to be a more serious incident,” he told reporters after a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, in April.

His campaign has encountered security issues. In September 2023, security personnel arrested an armed man impersonating a U.S. Marshal outside a campaign event in Los Angeles.

One month later, another armed man was arrested after twice attempting to break into Mr. Kennedy’s Los Angeles home. When he was released after the first incident under a restraining order, he returned to the candidate’s home and again tried to break in before authorities arrested him a second time.

Following Mr. Mayorkas’s fifth denial of Secret Service protection in April, Mr. Kennedy threatened to sue the DHS.

In a March 28 letter, the secretary said, “Based on the facts and the recommendation of the advisory committee, I have determined that Secret Service protection for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not warranted at this time.”

Protection for Candidates

Gavin de Becker, whose firm provides private security for Mr. Kennedy, said last year that Secret Service protection is often issued to candidates before the 120-day window, pointing to former President Jimmy Carter giving then-candidate Ronald Reagan and other GOP candidates security “long before the 1980 election.”

Mr. de Becker also noted that the Carter administration provided Sen. Edward Kennedy, Mr. Kennedy’s uncle, with Secret Service protection 441 days before the 1980 election, “even though [Sen.] Kennedy hadn’t formally announced his candidacy.”

This was repeated by the Reagan administration in 1983 and 1987 when it provided security protection to Democrat presidential candidate Jesse Jackson 362 days before the 1984 election and 351 days before the 1988 election, the security expert said.

“Every administration for 55 years afforded early Secret Service protection to candidates who requested protection. [This] refusal is the sole outlier, making the Biden administration the only one to refuse a protection request,” Mr. de Becker said.

The Secret Service says it provides protection to “major presidential and vice presidential candidates,” as defined by “the Secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with an advisory committee.”

“The Secret Service has no role in determining who is to be considered a major candidate. The Secretary of the Homeland Security determines who qualifies as a major candidate and when such protection should commence ... This determination is made in consultation with an advisory committee,” the agency’s website reads.

That advisory committee comprises the speaker of the House, House minority whip, Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader, and one additional member chosen by the committee.