An armed man impersonating a U.S. marshal at a National Hispanic Heritage Month event at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre where Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke was in custody Saturday.
The Los Angeles Police Department received a call at approximately 4:30 p.m. Friday regarding a disturbance at the theatre in the 4400 block of West Eighth Street in the Mid-Wilshire area, Officer Drake Madison told City News Service.
Upon their arrival, officers located a man who was impersonating a U.S. marshal and claimed to be part of Kennedy’s security team. Officers arrested him and took the man to the LAPD’s Wilshire Division Station, Madison said.
“He didn’t threaten anyone and no one was injured,” Madison told City News Service.
Police said the suspect was wearing a U.S. Marshals Service badge on a lanyard and was armed with two pistols.
“He’ll probably be booked on some sort of a gun charge, but we won’t know until” Saturday, Madison said Friday.
He said the FBI was contacted and it was decided the LAPD would handle the arrest and the investigation.
Kennedy thanked his security staff and the LAPD “for its rapid response” in a tweet.
The candidate’s father, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel, less than 2 miles east of the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.