The U.S. Secret Service reached out to the Donald Trump campaign over comments he made at a rally Tuesday about “Second Amendment people,” according to a report on CNN.
The agency would neither confirm nor deny the report to TIME.
“Those statements did not come from our public affairs office,” said Joseph Casey, a spokesperson for the Secret Service. He added he could not confirm the Secret Service reached out to the Trump campaign.
Trump tweeted late Wednesday that the report was inaccurate.
At a rally Tuesday, Trump made a comment that some argued could encourage violence against federal judges or Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while talking about what kinds of judges she could appoint as president.
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know,” he said.
On Tuesday, a former top Secret Service official told TIME the agency would likely speak with Trump’s campaign about the comments. The agency has also tweeted about the remarks.
“The Secret Service saying, ‘We are aware of this,’ I hear that as saying, ‘We really are concerned about this,'” said Stephen Saltzburg, a law professor at George Washington University who has worked at various levels of federal law enforcement. “They’re gonna say, ‘We’re aware.’ That’s a code word for, ‘We’re really concerned.'”
Read More: Former Secret Service Official: Donald Trump Is ‘Pretty Close to the Edge’
Saltzburg told TIME that the concern is whether someone might decide to act on that kind of rhetoric.
“What we have to worry about here is, the same kind of people yelling, ‘Lock her up,’ may respond with something that’s more dangerous,” he said.
More Must-Reads From TIME
- Jane Fonda Champions Climate Action for Every Generation
- Biden’s Campaign Is In Trouble. Will the Turnaround Plan Work?
- Why We're Spending So Much Money Now
- The Financial Influencers Women Actually Want to Listen To
- Breaker Sunny Choi Is Heading to Paris
- Why TV Can’t Stop Making Silly Shows About Lady Journalists
- The Case for Wearing Shoes in the House
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
Contact us at letters@time.com