Almost a month after a gunman shot and injured former President Donald Trump at an outside rally in Pennsylvania, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled a planned appearance at the Iowa State Fair, citing “increased security concerns.”
Kennedy announced his candidacy in April 2023 and was denied Secret Service protection five times by the Department of Homeland Security before it was swiftly authorized after the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump.
Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was shot and killed during a campaign stop in Dallas in 1963, and his father, New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated by a gunman after a campaign speech in Los Angeles while running for president in 1968.
In separate incidents last year, two armed men were arrested while attempting to confront Kennedy.
Kennedy was one of 10 candidates slated to speak at the Political Soapbox on Thursday, an event that has become an Iowa political tradition. He appeared at the forum last year.
A Kennedy campaign spokesperson said, “We were unable to secure a venue stage indoors that satisfies our security requirements for Mr. Kennedy’s safety.”
Kennedy has not held his own campaign rallies since receiving Secret Service protection. He did speak at the Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville last month. Trump also delivered an address at the conference.
Kennedy’s campaign told The Epoch Times that more events will be scheduled in the upcoming weeks. He has frequently appeared on podcasts and has held press briefings via Zoom as he continues his quest to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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 The Epoch Times after a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, in April.
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.
Kennedy’s 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 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.
