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.

  • 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.

    • anon6789
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      2510 months ago

      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.

  • @some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    14810 months ago

    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.”

    • @N0body@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3710 months ago

      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.

      • @catloaf@lemm.ee
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        1310 months ago

        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.

            • @GBU_28@lemm.ee
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              210 months ago

              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

              • @curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                410 months ago

                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

          • BarqsHasBite
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            10 months ago

            You climb in and out through the window. Hardships have to be endured for a whale skull.

          • @tacosplease@lemmy.world
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            810 months ago

            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.

            • @Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              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.

    • @Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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      510 months ago

      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.

    • Flying Squid
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      6010 months ago

      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.

  • @reddig33@lemmy.world
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    710 months ago

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

    • @shalafi@lemmy.world
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      510 months ago

      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.

  • @Etterra@lemmy.world
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    510 months ago

    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.

  • @NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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    1510 months ago

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

  • @Beetschnapps@lemmy.world
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    510 months ago

    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?

    • quicklime
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      810 months ago

      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.

      • @Beetschnapps@lemmy.world
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        210 months ago

        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?

      • Flying Squid
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        10 months ago

        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.

  • walden
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    1210 months ago

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

  • @Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    6010 months ago

    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.