RFK Jr faces call for investigation into claim he chainsawed whale’s head off

girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to News@lemmy.world – 464 points – RFK Jr faces call for investigation into claim he chainsawed whale’s head off
theguardian.com

His independent White House campaign has fizzled, but the flow of bizarre stories of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s unorthodox handling of the carcasses of wild mammals has experienced no similar suspension.

An environmental group is calling for a federal investigation into the former presidential candidate for an episode in which he allegedly severed the head of a washed-up whale with a chainsaw – and drove home with it strapped to his car’s roof.

The episode has parallels with another extraordinary tale reported earlier in August in which Kennedy confessed to dumping a dead bear cub in New York’s Central Park and attempted to make it look like the animal was killed by a bicyclist.

The latest grisly revelation, about the whale head, is not particularly new – it stems from a 2012 interview Kennedy’s daughter Kick gave to Town & Country magazine, in which she talks about a visit to other family members of the political dynasty in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, more than two decades prior.

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His daughter:

“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. 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.”

Note that he intentionally took his kids to watch him saw the head off and put it on the car and take it home. Because he apparently liked to "study" such things. Weird as fuck.

All his life he has spent an unusual amount of time around animal corpses. Dead animals are kind of his thing.

I learned this from the Behind the Bastards podcast's recent RFL Jr. series. It came up so much it was an ongoing callback joke lol.

Just a not weird family drive through the country. Seriously though, I'm betting the Harris campaign is sitting on several more of these stories that will roll out over the next couple months.

I'm also wondering where his collection is right now. If he's being investigated for a federal crime, there may be a search warrant in the works.

Look, guys... he already admitted that he's not a choir boy. So just drop it, already. Sheesh. /s

whale juice would pour into the windows of the car

Why...

Why wouldn't you roll up the windows?

Straps go through the windows?

Lol how would you open the doors

There's not always the little strip of metal across the top of the door. Some cars just let the glass press against a foam rubber seal when the door is shut. Infiniti G35 windows were like that.

You can still close the windows on the straps, assuming they're flat straps.

I've personally seen too many people try strapping things to their car through open windows because they didn't plan on how they would get into their cars. It's far too likely that mr. brain worms simply strapped the doors shut and crawled in through the windows.

You remove the straps then open the doors.

And then the load shifts on the roof, and you get in. How will you tighten the straps?

Why not just run the straps around with the doors open

Generally there are more than two windows....

But I never said any of this was a good idea, just answering how you can do it. Some car doors won't close with a strap in there (my old Chrysler Lebaron for example, $800 of "Its technically driveable"), so me and a friend went in through the windows.

I had town car, all four doors would close just fine, but the station wagon only the front doors would close (so backseat meant crawling through the trunk, aka the fifth seat).

You do what you gotta do

Normal Kennedy day. They only roll the windows up when things get weird.

Based on what I'm hearing about the guy, I wouldn't be surprised if the windows and/or AC were broken and they just left it like that.

people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day to day stuff for us.

Right, so when they're not driving around with whale heads, he's just a reckless driver. Must run in the family.

Remember folks, there are delusional centrists who love this guy and think he speaks for the working man.

Man, Kennedys end up with a shocking number of dead things in their cars.

Ever read a comment that's so damned clever you bail out the internet, knowing you won't find another lightning in a bottle post any time soon?

RFK Jr: "This is a cool story, right? People will think I'm cool?"

Brain Worm: "Yes! Yes! And tell them about the bear!"

Beautiful. If Kirsty Noem taught us anything, it's that charming stories about animals are all the rage.

Okay, but if it was already dead, and he didn’t kill it, what’s the big deal?

“Mr Kennedy’s apparent transport of the marine mammal skull from Massachusetts to New York, and therefore across state lines, also represented a felony violation of the Lacey Act, one of the earliest wildlife conservation laws enacted by [the] United States in 1900,” he wrote, adding that it was also illegal to possess part of any animal protected by the endangered species act.

Oh.

I think the purpose of that language is to prevent people hunters claiming they just happened to find it dead.

I hate when actions that cause no harm are made illegal, just because actions that do cause harm are harder to investigate.

Yep! Everyone on lemmy acting like this guy harpooned the thing himself. Technically illegal? Sure. But not the sort of thing that's usually prosecuted unless some sort of public attention is drawn.

Lucky for him nobody has drawn public attention to it.

A close shave... only he and the rest of the English speaking world shall know.

Just to be clear though... whether the things he is doing are technically illegal or not... they're batshit insane. This privileged socialite just running around the US bagging himself any carcasses that aren't nailed down, transporting them large distances, and sometimes dumping them in places...

Ya know, all totally normal behavior. Average American shit. Definitely not weird.

Maybe I was lied to in boy scouts but I was told that law even prevents you from keeping a feather naturally dropped by a bald eagle. So cutting the head off an endangered animal would definitely be a no no.

All feathers are illegal, but they will most certainly throw the book at you for Eagle feathers. The animal rescues have to transport dead bald eagles to the federal government where they get DNA tested and cataloged and feathers are only distributed to Native Americans who have gone through a permit process. A first time offense is a $100k fine and a year in prison.

Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act

Handling and Distribution of Bald and Golden Eagles and Parts

This is exactly as mentioned in other comments, to prevent the "it was already dead when I got here" excuse.

Oh wow thanks for all the info!

Of course! Learning all the crazy laws and regulations is one of my favorite things about visiting rescues.

My favorite legal eagle story is the park near my work had a rescue Bald Eagle that died. I was talking to the caretaker about it, and he told me about the shipping process and the DNA cataloging, and he said the eagle was currently in the freezer to keep it intact for eventual shipping once he received instructions. He told me that was nothing though, he also has another eagle he found in a field from 10 years ago in the freezer with it. It was determined it died of avian influenza (bird flu), so the carcass is banned from leaving its local quarantine zone. At the same time, it's a federal crime for him to bury it, burn it, etc. So it's been chilling on ice for a decade awaiting federal intructions. Wild stuff!

What's so special about bald eagle feathers that people want them? Not quite the trophy hunting that I normally think of.

There are a lot of reasons for these laws existing, though many will seem odd now since it's something that has been extremely illegal for about a century now.

Native people have string cultural tradition in which Eagle feathers and others are important. While they are the only ones allowed to possess them, it's only after a very extensive process. People are willing to pay ridiculous money to "jump the line."

When the time these laws were passed, art and fashion used feathers and animal skins. The flashier or more amazing the animals, the more parts were worth. Raptors especially, being apex animals, don't reproduce very quickly, and it is very easy to hurt their populations, and as they are the biggest, baddest birds, their feathers are top choice. Talons were also in demand, again, because they are pretty awesome.

People also just used to collect weird stuff, including dead animals. Tour the house of a rich person from the 1700s or 1800s house and you will likely find all manner of dead animals. These people did the same thing as people do online now. They wanted to look more awesome than everyone else in their social circle. Looking like a fancy biologist, explorer, or hunter made you seem interesting, and all you had to do is kill something fancy looking, or pay someone to do it for you.

Here are 2 news stories for you. The first is still going on from this year. Two men killed at least 3600 birds for profit in 6 years. That's just 2 people.

In the second story, it is people and businesses selling animal parts from all over the world. It's like shark fins, elephant tusks, pangolin scales, and so on. They're rare, and people will pay.

Man pleads guilty in eagle ‘killing spree’ on reservation to sell feathers on black market

A Washington state man accused of helping kill thousands of birds pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to shooting eagles on an American Indian reservation in Montana and selling their feathers and body parts on the black market.

Branson and a second defendant, Simon Paul, killed approximately 3,600 birds, including eagles on the Flathead reservation and elsewhere, according to a December indictment.

Federally recognized tribes can apply for permits with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a bald or golden eagle for religious purposes, and enrolled tribal members can apply for feathers and other bird parts from the National Eagle Repository in Colorado and non-government repositories in Oklahoma and Phoenix. There’s a yearslong backlog of requests at the National Repository and researchers say the high demand is fueling the black market for eagle parts.

17 people, 2 pawn shops sentenced in eagle trafficking case

Parsons’ office said the operation used undercover techniques to buy protected bird parts from 51 suspects over 19 months. Authorities said the purchases happened over the internet and in Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Edward Grace, acting assistant director of the Office of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in the statement that agents and forensic scientists found more than 35 bird species — spanning every continent but Antarctica — had been trafficked.

“This operation, which began in America’s heartland, illustrates how wildlife trafficking is a global crisis,” Grace said.

Are we sure John McAfee didn't fake his death and change his name to RFK? Cause this is some weird-ass John McAfee shit.

Can we not use John McAfee and shit on the same sentence anymore? IYKYK

I don't know, and honestly I'm a little afraid to look it up...

And this is only like, the fifth weirdest headline I've read about the guy.

Trump: "People are calling us weird! Quick, bring on someone that is weirder than me and Vance!"

Staffers: "Turn on the RFK signal!"

Little know fact. A worm crawled into his skull and ate a piece of his brain. The brain then died, and that's RFK JR.

I heard his brain was so poisoned that the worm just died and was rotting in there.

Who is piloting that shit show of a man then? Perhaps a bear shed it skin for a laugh and slipped into his man suit?

Maybe he’s like a jelly fish now. Just reacting to stimulus, and screaming nonsense is just like involuntary muscles twitching.

It wouldn't be Lemmy if we didn't make fun of mentally disabled people 🥰🥰🥰

I'd have less of a problem with mentally disabled people if they would stop running for president.

Any person with down syndrome would be more competent and have significantly more empathy than several former US presidents I can think of.

Cards against humanity-ass title

It was already tough being in a world where it's hard to see the difference between the onion articles and actual news. Now we're on a completely new level where news can be the result of playing CAH. It's kinda funny until you stop to think how terrible it is.

Mf'er really named his kid Kick Kennedy?

Her actual name is Kathleen.

She's named after her great aunt Kathleen Kennedy, who died in a plane crash at 28 years old. Aunt Kathleen was nicknamed "Kick" because of her "irrepressible nature" and it seems she inherited the nickname as well.

These irrepressible Kennedy women are lucky they didn't end up with lobotomies.

Ugh, I hate that story so much. If anything cursed that family, it'd be this.

I know the meme is Ted Cruz being the Zodiac killer, but are we sure it isn't actually RFK Jr?

Wrong coast. But considering the family said that he likes to "study" things like whale skulls, I wouldn't exactly be shocked if he had a human skull or two in his collection.

He likes to play among rotting carcasses... behind the bastards had a really interesting podcast about him.

Tried to give the show a listen. Couldn't get passed the terrible jokes and laughing and turned it off in less than 5 minutes. Any recommendations on a more serious show like Behind the Bastards?

This can't be fucking real.

how much would a whale head weigh? how would he have raised it onto his car roof without an engine lift and crazy chains? maybe it was a really small whale? why would the windows be open?

So the unspoken bit about RFK Jr. is that he's a tweaker, right?

I mean, the details are all in the context of politically entitled progeny, but the underlying vibe I get from the stories about him is very reminiscent of the tweakers I've known over the years.

Watch the Behind the Bastards on him, he at least used to be really into drugs even got one of his brothers addicted.

Edit: Pretty sure it was the brother that died from a drug overdose.

This is a Kaufman-esque performance art piece, right? Jk rich people get a free pass on insanity.

Everyone around Trump seems to either end up in prison, a convicted felon, or in rare cases, dead. Funny how assholes and weirdos seem to gravitate to him.

I think it's a strategy to remove the focus on both trump himself and what hes campaign is missing (clear stances on lot of things).

Just get crazy headline-guys in the spotlight!

And it seems it's working.

Just a friendly reminder that this man is now aligned with presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

Dang, we missed out on a whale beheading, bear practical joking, brain worming president! It's just too bad.

This goes way beyond weird. No wonder the weird OLD orange felon welcomed him aboard.

Wild day for people who believe in consequences as we beg appeals courts to not let Trump off scot free for misuse of classified documents and hope theres a way to prosecute a Kennedy for decapitating a whale.

I don’t . . . What . . . How is . . .

Imma go lay down.

I wanna know how he wasn't arrested? I mean if any average person had done that their ass would be in jail ffs.

I'm sure the DA will get right on it as soon as he and RFK Jr. get back from their falconry trip in the Hamptons.

What are the charges? When I find skulls laying around our camp I nail them beside the shed door. So far I have a rabbit, tortoise shell and an unidentified herbivore. Lost the deer skull. :(

Call me weird if you like, but criminal? Excepting scale, what's the difference? Not like he rowed out in the bay and harpooned it himself. I can't shoot a black bear, but I can do what I please with any remains I find.

What are the charges?

You can just, like, read the article. It's right there. Hyperlinked nicely for you for maximum convenience.

The worst part IMO is using a chainsaw on a necrotizing, possibly rotten whale carcass. Chainsaws do not cut soft objects - like tissues - so much as they shred the hell out of them. That means a lot of splattered, fish-stench horror and fluids. And he probably didn't wear so much as a smock for protection.

Can someone explain his voice? I don’t want to be the bad guy, so rather than pilling on the obvious…

Why does he sound like he smoked a dick 5 min before his interviews?

That information is very widely and readily available with a basic web search. His voice was fine until (I forget) years ago when a weird illness damaged his vocal cords.

He has spasmodic dysphonia. It's the same condition that former NPR interviewer Diane Rehm had has (she's still with us at 87, good for you Diane). His is a lot more severe than hers to my ears.

He caught permanent whale laryngitis from the dead whale head juice that sloshed through his open car windows.

Cool it’s all out there… but you forgot it… but it’s all good and we all get a downvote. Cool cool cool.

Anyone else want to mention what’s going on with his craggy bullshit? Why it’s so GD abrasive but we’re all supposed to just accept it?

He’s a weirdo, but an investigation sounds like a waste of resources. The whale was already dead. He didn’t kill it.

transport of the marine mammal skull from Massachusetts to New York, and therefore across state lines, also represented a felony violation of the Lacey Act

Pretty thin sauce.