RFK Jr accused of decapitating whale with chainsaw and taking it home, under investigation
It was in 2012 that the allegation first emerged when RFK Jr's daughter claimed that when she was a child, her father used a chainsaw on a dead whale.
Robert F Kennedy Jr is reportedly being investigated for allegedly decapitating a whale 20 years ago. The former US presidential candidate has been accused of decapitating the whale with a chainsaw and taking it home.
Kennedy said at a rally that National Marine Fisheries Services had recently contacted him about the incident. Recently speaking at an event in Glendale, Arizona, he stated that the inquiry into him amounted to “the weaponisation of our government against political opponents.”
“I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago,” Kennedy told the crowd, The Mirror reported.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is responsible for overseeing the fisheries services, said in response, “It is a long-standing NOAA practice not to comment on open investigations.”
It was in 2012 that the allegation first emerged. Kennedy’s daughter, Kathleen Kennedy, told a magazine at the time that when she was a child, her father used a chainsaw on a dead whale. She said her father took off the whale’s head, tied it to the family car’s roof and drove it home.
“Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” Kathleen said. “We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.”
‘If he had a shred of integrity left, he’d surrender this whale skull’
Whales have been protected in the US under the Marine Mammal Protection Act since 1972. As per reports, Kennedy’s act of decapitating the whale was picked up by a non-profit, the Centre for Biological Diversity Action Fund. The group eventually contacted the authorities.
“RFK Jr cutting off the head of a dead whale was both bizarre and illegal, and any serious environmental attorney would know better,” wrote Brett Hartl, the group’s national political director.
Hartl added, “Kennedy may think that his name and privilege mean the rules don’t apply to him, but if he had a shred of integrity left, he’d surrender this whale skull and any other illegally collected wildlife parts to the authorities. If he doesn’t, NOAA law enforcement should open an investigation and potentially bring charges against him.”
Over the weekend, Kennedy said that upon finding out that he was being investigated, he wrote a letter to NOAA, accusing it of killing wildlife with “giant offshore wind farms off the East Coast.” This year, Kennedy also admitted that he dumped the body of a dead bear in New York City’s Central Park several years back.