Weeks after the story about RFK Jr. allegedly decapitating a whale resurfaced, the former 2024 presidential election candidate is now being investigated for the incident.
The controversial member of the Kennedy Family revealed the National Marine Fisheries Service is investigating him for not only decapitating a dead whale but then transporting the animal’s skull across state lines.
“I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute,” RFK Jr. stated, noting this was about the decapitating whale incident. He was at a rally supporting former President Donald Trump in Arizona. “This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents.”
The decades-old resurfaced after rumors started circulating that his daughter Kick Kennedy was spending time with newly single Ben Affleck. She had shared details about the adventure during a 2012 interview with Town & Country.
While chatting with the publication, Kick said that after learning a whale carcass had washed ashore on New York’s Squaw Island, her father packed her, her siblings, and her mother Emily Black, in the family minivan. He then headed to the beach with a chainsaw in hand and decapitated the mammal.
Due to the size of the creature’s head, RFK Jr. decided to put it on the top of the vehicle using a bungee cord. This meant the family had to make the five-hour drive back to their home Mount Kisco, with the whale’s “juices” flying all over the place.
“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,” RFK Jr’s daughter recalled. “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.”
RFK Jr. Decapitating a Whale Sparks Outrage in the Animal Rights Community
The New York Post reports that after the story started making its rounds, the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund spoke out.
The organization claimed the whale was protected by the Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species. This made it illegal to possess any part of the animal, even though it was dead.
Brett Hartl, political director for the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, spoke out about the incident. Hartl urged federal officials to investigate.
“Kennedy may think that his name and privilege mean the rules don’t apply to him,” Hartl stated. “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.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service is notably part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
RFK Jr. Has a History With Dead Animals
This isn’t the first animal incident to resurface for RFK Jr.
He recently addressed his involvement in the 2014 dead bear cub in Central Park incident.
RFK Jr. told Roseanne Barr that he was in Hudson Valley hawking when he came across the dead bear cub. The animal had been run over by a vehicle and died. Instead of just leaving the dead animal alone, he decided to take it home with him.
He continued with his hawking trip while the dead animal lay in his vehicle’s trunk. Instead of going back to his home in Westchester, he decided to drive to New York City. There he had dinner with friends. However, the event went longer than expected. He had forgotten he was supposed to go to the airport to catch a flight.
“I didn’t want to leave the bear in my car, because that would have been bad,” he explained. RFK Jr. then said that he and his friends hatched a plan. They took the dead bear to Central Park and staged the death. RFK Jr. and his pals then made it look like the creature was hit by a bike.
RFK Jr. said the bike was in his vehicle at the same time.
Kennedy also said that he and his friends thought whoever discovered the bear would find it “amusing.” But the situation took a turn when someone found the bear while walking through the famous park.
Although he was nervous about the incident and the attention he received, RFK Jr. was relieved nothing happened after. He opened up about it because the New Yorker was publishing a story about his involvement in the incident. He wanted to share his side of what happened.