Facing rising threats, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley requests Secret Service protection

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has sought Secret Service protection due to escalating threats amid her role as Donald Trump’s primary adversary for the 2024 GOP nomination, according to a report.

“We’ve had multiple issues,” The Wall Street Journal report quoted the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador as saying after a campaign event here.

“It’s not going to stop me from doing what I need to do,” she added.

Following losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, Haley has emerged as Trump’s sole contender in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Their confrontations have intensified on the campaign trail and are headed into a heated primary in her home state on 24 February.

According to The New York Times report, Trump’s supporters have resorted to racist messages, death threats, and “swatting” calls against his political adversaries.

However, Haley’s campaign officials declined to disclose further details regarding the threats she has encountered, which could also be attributed to her tenure as a United Nations ambassador, particularly her involvement in Iran, added the report.

Swatting is the filing of false reports to the police to set off a potentially dangerous response by officers. Law enforcement experts see it as a form of intimidation or harassment that is increasingly being used to target prominent figures, including officials involved in the civil and criminal cases against Trump.

Presidential candidates typically receive Secret Service Protection around the time they win their party’s nomination. In 2007, Barack Obama, then a senator, was assigned protection nine months before voting began in the primaries.

Haley has increased security at her events in recent weeks. In South Carolina, reports filed with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office show that deputies have responded to at least two bogus reports at her home on Kiawah Island since December, New York Times reported.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was tracking one of the hoax calls that led to the swatting incident at Haley’s South Carolina home in December and intended to open a “threat assessment,” Reuters cited an e-mail obtained in January.

Haley has said her parents were at home during the December incident.

With inputs from agencies