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Who is Joshua Runkles? Armed man posing as law enforcement at Charlie Kirk memorial site arrested
Secret Service agents arrested an armed man pretending to be law enforcement at the Arizona stadium, where Charlie Kirk's memorial will be held on Sunday.
An armed man was arrested by the Secret Service for pretending to be a law enforcement officer at the Arizona stadium, a day before Charlie Kirk's memorial there, as per reports.
The man who has been arrested is Joshua Runkles, The Washington Post reported, citing a law enforcement official familiar with the matter. The person has not been officially identified yet.
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Kirk's memorial is expected to have both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in attendance. The Turning Point USA founder's memorial service has been made a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) Level 1 event by the Department of Homeland Security. It allows the US administration to assign sweeping security resources.
Who is Joshua Runkles?
Runkles was reportedly carrying a knife, a gun, and expired law enforcement credentials when he was detained. The 42-year-old reportedly told Secret Service agents he was there to provide private security and then handed them ‘inactive law enforcement credentials.’
Not much is known about Runkles' background, but he's reportedly a former deputy sheriff from Idaho, Fox News Digital reported. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said that he had entered the stadium before any ‘secure perimeter’ was set up, as per Fox News Digital.
“The individual was approached by Secret Service and stated during the encounter that he was a member of law enforcement and that he was armed. The individual is not a member of authorized law enforcement working the event and is currently in custody,” he told the New York Post.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety took him into custody. He was booked into Maricopa County Jail, on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer, a felony in Arizona, and carrying a weapon into a prohibited place, a misdemeanor, a state public safety department spokesperson told NY Post.
Runkles is now out on bond, but a probe is ongoing to determine why he was in the stadium, the publication also reported. An update shared by TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet clarified that the person who was arrested was doing ‘advance security for a known guest planning to attend the memorial service’.
“We do not believe this person was attempting anything nefarious, however the advance was not done in proper coordination with the TPUSA security team or US Secret Service,” he added in the X post.
