Biden gets Secret Service protection after protester run-ins The U.S. Secret Service says Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is receiving its protection beginning this weekWASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who has been repeatedly accosted by protesters on the campaign trail, is receiving U.S. Secret Service protection beginning this week, the agency said. The leading candidates in the 2012 and 2016 presidential contests had Secret Service protection by this point in those races. The Secret Service protects, by statute, the president and vice president and their families, as well as some other senior government officials. The Secret Service does a threat assessment and consults with Department of Homeland Security officials and a congressional commission made up of the majority and minority leaders of both chambers, plus another member. Earlier this month, Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., said the House Homeland Security Committee had asked the Secret Service to provide protection to all remaining major presidential candidates.

Source: ABC News March 17, 2020 14:57 UTC