Bernie Sanders: Authorities Reportedly Investigating Possible Assassination Attempt [Video]

Was Bernie Sanders recently the target of a failed assassination attempt? That’s what some of his supporters are claiming following a shooting at the Democratic presidential candidate’s Las Vegas campaign headquarters. The Las Vegas Sun reports that the Bernie Sanders campaign offices were shot up on Thursday, January 7, the same day Bernie Sanders was on site. According to Metro Police, they responded to reports of a shooting at the campaign offices around noon.

When police responded to investigate the claims of a shooting at the Bernie Sanders campaign headquarters on the same day Sanders was at the office, the found what appeared to be a bullet hole in the front window of the facility. They have not, as yet, found the bullet responsible. Police have declined to comment on whether or not a shot had been fired at the Bernie Sanders offices.

As for Bernie Sanders himself, the Democratic candidate reportedly conducted interviews with several outlets on Thursday morning. His campaign has also declined to comment on the shooting incident, which police are still investigating.

Despite the relatively mum response from police and the Bernie Sanders campaign regarding the incident, Sanders supporters are calling for increased security for their favorite Presidential candidate, reports Addicting Info. In fact, Bernie Sanders supporters are now petitioning for a Secret Service detail to be provided for Sanders. The publication notes that the same level of security has been provided for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Indeed, even now “lagging in the polls” Ben Carson has been provided Secret Service protection. So why not Bernie Sanders?

According to reports and regulations, Sanders certainly meets the qualifications for receiving Secret Service protection as a Presidential candidate, per the Secret Service website, which lays out relatively few requirements for protection for high-level candidates.

• Be publicly announced
• Have some degree of prominence as shown by opinion polls
• Be actively campaigning and entered in at least 10 state primaries
• Be seeking the nomination of a qualified party
• Have qualified for matching funds in the amount of at least $100,000
• Have received contributions totaling $10 million

Addicting Info reports that Bernie Sanders clearly meets all of the above criteria for Secret Service protection. In addition, the Democratic Presidential candidate is the only currently known Presidential candidate to have suffered an attempt on his life, and at his own campaign headquarters. While Donald Trump, for example, has called for the segregation of Muslims in the United States and even had a female Muslim “protester” removed from his campaign rally for doing nothing more than standing, his campaign offices have not been shot up on days he was utilizing them. However, Trump is under Secret Service protection, while Bernie Sanders is not.

While Bernie Sanders is not the Democratic front-runner per se, he is definitely a top competitor for the party’s Presidential nomination. Recent polls, according to NBC News, put Bernie Sanders nearly neck-and-neck in Iowa with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, who enjoys a Secret Service detail despite having no attempts on her life or campaign office windows. Currently, Bernie Sanders is estimated at 43 percent of the Democratic Iowa vote, compared to Clinton’s 49 percent. Iowa is the first state to vote in the Presidential primaries, and often sets the tone for Presidential races. In New Hampshire, the second state to cast its Presidential primary vote, Bernie Sanders currently has a six-point lead over Hillary among potential voters.

No wonder Bernie Sanders supporters are concerned that he’s not yet received Secret Service detail, despite the fact that his campaign offices appear to have been targeted by gun violence and even a potential assassination attempt. Just last week, just weeks before the primaries, and on a day Vermont senator Bernie Sanders was in the offices vying for the United States Presidency.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]