Barack Obama receives Secret Service protection, earliest ever in an election cycle: “Two sources said that security concerns, including large crowds and unspecified threats against the candidate, were the reasons for the security detail. But a Department of Homeland Security official said there is no known viable threat against the senator “at this time.” The FBI confirmed that there was no specific threat against Obama. According to the DHS, the candidate’s campaign requested the security detail, an advisory committee approved that request and the Secret Service initiated the protective detail.”