For democracy to function, the public must know that elections, and not violence, will decide who takes public office. That is why the United States has granted Secret Service protection to all major Presidential candidates.

Last Wednesday, for the second time this election season, an intruder entered Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s home in Los Angeles. He had written hundreds of emails to the campaign, which were included in its application for Secret Service protection, one of which made mention of a „bullet in [Mr. Kennedy‘s] brain.“ A month earlier, a man had showed up to one of Mr. Kennedy‘s campaign events carrying loaded weapons and posing as a U.S. Marshal.

In both cases, the individuals were apprehended by Mr. Kennedy‘s private security detail and turned over to the police. But the incidents demonstrate the necessity for Secret Service protection for Mr. Kennedy. Withholding protection puts him and members of the public who attend campaign events at risk. Furthermore, it would be incredibly destabilizing for our nation if another Kennedy came to harm in the course of Presidential politics.