- RFK Jr. accused of illegally transporting whale skull
- Environmentalists seek investigation of 1994 incident
- Kennedy suspends campaign, endorses Donald Trump
Environmentalists are calling for an investigation into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim that he once cut the head off a dead beached whale with a chainsaw and transported it home on the roof of his vehicle.
A group supporting Kamala Harris for president claims Mr Kennedy’s purported removal and transfer of the whale’s skull may have violated the law.
Mr Kennedy, 70, has not commented on the incident, which his daughter described in an interview 12 years ago.
The request for an investigation comes just days after he suspended his independent presidential campaign, which was marked by bizarre twists, including his admission that he had discarded the remains of a dead bear in New York’s Central Park.
Mr. Kennedy has now endorsed Donald Trump for president and has been given a position on the Republican nominee’s transition team if he is elected.
In a 2012 interview with Town & Country magazine, Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy described the incident with the whale’s head around 1994.
Mr Kennedy, who enjoys examining animal skulls and skeletons, was apparently informed that the dead animal had washed up near Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, where the family was visiting.
He went to the beach and cut off the head with a chainsaw before tying it to the roof of the family minivan with bungee cords. Ms Kennedy said the family then returned to their New York home.
Ms Kennedy told the magazine that every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would run into the car’s windows, and it was the most disgusting thing on the planet.
We were all wearing plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were throwing us the finger, but it was just part of our daily routine.
The Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, which officially sponsored Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, urged an investigation.
The group sent a letter outlining its argument to marine protection officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
According to the letter, Mr Kennedy may have violated several federal statutes by collecting and moving wildlife body parts across state boundaries.
“Vital research opportunities are lost when individuals scavenge a wildlife carcass and interfere with the work of scientists,” stated the group’s political director, Brett Hartl.
This is particularly true of marine mammals, which are some of the most difficult wildlife species in the world to study,” says Mr. Hartl.
Noaa has yet to confirm receipt of the letter or make an official remark, nor has Mr Kennedy.
Earlier this year, Mr Kennedy averaged approximately 15% in presidential preference polls as an independent candidate.
His message combined anti-establishment and anti-corporate rhetoric with liberal social beliefs, environmental activism, and contentious vaccine skepticism.
But his numbers dropped, and he declared last week that he was suspending his candidacy.
Although initially seeking the Democratic candidacy, he ultimately criticized his former party and endorsed Donald Trump. The move shocked his relatives, who are the most well-known family in Democratic politics.
Mr Kennedy’s campaign generated several odd and sensational headlines.
In May, the New York Times published an article disclosing that he had told lawyers involved in his 2012 divorce proceedings that he had a memory problem caused by a dead brain parasite.
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In mid-July, Mr Kennedy texted an apology to a former family nanny after Vanity Fair magazine published an article accusing him of unwanted sexual approaches. “I have no memory of this incident, but I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable,” wrote the author.
In media comments, he said the Vanity Fair piece contained a lot of “garbage” but agreed that he had a “very, very rambunctious youth” and was “not a church boy.”
Earlier this month, Mr Kennedy was caught on camera chatting to actress Roseanne Barr about the 2014 incident with the deceased bear cub.
He said that a woman killed the bear with her automobile when he was driving in a rural region, and he put it in his van with the idea of harvesting its meat.
But, finally, he felt it would be “amusing” to leave the carcass in New York’s Central Park, giving the impression that an errant bike had killed the animal. The bear was recovered the next day.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation stated that charges could not be sought for events that occurred more than a year ago.
