Robert F. Kennedy Jr. allegedly used a chainsaw to remove the head of a dead whale that had washed ashore near his home, transported the head back to his residence, and may have violated federal laws protecting marine mammals.
The 1994 incident surfaced with the re-circulation of a 2012 Town & Country magazine interview with Kennedy's daughter, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy.
"Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car," she is cited as saying.
The Center for Biological Diversity has accused Kennedy of potentially violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Lacey Act by illegally possessing the skull of a protected whale species, and has called for an investigation into his actions.
Kennedy has a history of controversial handling and collecting of wild animals, including placing a dead bear cub in Central Park in 2014 and confessing to making it look like the animal was fatally struck by a cyclist during his recent failed presidential campaign.
If Kennedy still possesses any part of the whale's skeleton, he could potentially face federal charges.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq
Sources: BBC, ABC News, Dealmakerz, ExBulletin, 9News, Westside People, KTVL, Global News, AOL, Media Matters, Patch, West Hawaii Today, The Global Herald, Boston Globe, Boston.com.