Robert Francis Kennedy Junior

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (2007)

Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr. (born January 17, 1954 in Washington, DC ), often called RFK Jr. or Bobby Jr. , is an American lawyer , environmental activist , author and anti-vaccination campaigner . He is the third child of Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel Kennedy, and the nephew of the 35th  President of the United States, John F. Kennedy .

Life

Kennedy attended Georgetown Preparatory School, a boys' school in Bethesda, Maryland . He holds a degree in political science of Harvard University and, like several other members of the Kennedy family at the London School of Economics study, he also has a degree in jurisprudence . In 1983 he was arrested in South Dakota for substance abuse . Thereupon he underwent an addiction treatment . His younger brother, David Anthony Kennedy , died of a cocaine overdose in 1984 .

The marriage of Kennedy and his first wife Emily Ruth Black was divorced on March 25, 1994 in the Dominican Republic after the birth of two children (Robert F. III, (* 1984) and Kathleen Alexandra (* 1988)) .

He married his second wife Mary Richardson (1959–2012) on April 15, 1994. The couple had four children: Conor Richardson (* 1994), Kyra LeMoyne (* 1995), William Finbar (* 1997), and Aiden Caohman Vieques ( * 2001).

Kennedy filed for divorce on May 12, 2010. Mary Richardson committed suicide in May 2012.

On August 2, 2014, he married actress and director Cheryl Hines .

Political opinions

As a devout Catholic, Kennedy advocates a ban on abortion , but does not believe in a church divorce ban. In 1984 he joined the Riverkeeper organization , which has set itself the goal of indicting pollution of the Hudson River . He is also the founder of the Waterkeeper Alliance , which he heads to this day.

Kennedy appears frequently on television and has published many articles in publications and books in the United States pointing out the dangers that he believes threaten the earth should drastic action not be taken soon. Robert Kennedy was discussed as a possible head of the US Environment Agency under Barack Obama , but Lisa P. Jackson received this position. Kennedy's appeal had not been without controversy, it is still among colleagues in the field of environmental protection paranoia rumored after he repeatedly over alleged causal links between child vaccination and autism has expressed that are obscured his view of the government.

Kennedy expressed the view that the controversial US presidential election in 2004 - which George W. Bush narrowly won - had been rigged .

In a contribution published by Politico , he argues that the civil war in Syria was the result of a CIA destabilization campaign aimed at overthrowing the regime there in order to prevent the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Iran.

Kennedy is anti-vaccination . In 2005, for example, he made the claim, which had already been refuted several times, that there was a causal relationship between thimerosal and the occurrence of neurological disorders in children. In January 2017, the elected US President Donald Trump asked him whether he would like to chair a possible vaccine safety panel . Among other things, the connection between autism and vaccinations in children will be examined. This connection was first "constructed" in 1998 and is now considered scientifically refuted (see MMR vaccine # The Wakefield case ). On the same day, Trump had distanced himself from Kennedy's statement that he would head such a commission. Kennedy, however, continues to spread that autism is causally linked to vaccinations. In addition, he runs the “Children's Health Defense” (formerly “World Mercury Project”), an organization in the USA where, in addition to typical anti-vaccination positions, other conspiracy theories are disseminated. The anti-vaccination positions were sharply criticized by his relatives and family members Kathleen Kennedy Townsend , Joseph Patrick Kennedy II and Maeve Kennedy McKean . The allegations against Bill Gates and his foundation (e.g. alleged vaccination damage in India or Africa) have been refuted by several fact checks.

Kennedy signed the “Call for the Church and the World”, which a group led by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò had written on May 7th, 2020, in which, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, it was said that “forces [... ] are interested "in creating panic in the population". “Foreign powers” ​​and “supranational units” interfered “in order to be able to manipulate and control better”. There were also warnings against a "policy of drastic population reduction". It is a "worrying prelude to the creation of a world government". These theses were rejected by the media, the German Bishops' Conference and church representatives and called conspiracy theories . In addition, Kennedy spreads other conspiracy theories, such as that Bill Gates wants to implant a "chip" into humanity through vaccination, or that the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads via 5G .

Kennedy has for some time had doubts that his father was actually shot on June 5, 1968 by the convicted Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan . He therefore calls for a new investigation into the circumstances of the murder.

Books

  • Crimes Against Nature (2004)
  • Riverkeepers
  • Thimerosal

Web links

Commons : Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files
  • Robert Kennedy Jr .: His great love perished on him . In: The world . September 19, 2015 ( online [accessed February 24, 2020]).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tragedy about Mary Richardson Kennedy: "This clan tore it apart." In: Spiegel Online from May 17, 2012
  2. ↑ Esther King: Why the Arabs don't want us in Syria. In: politico.eu. February 23, 2016, accessed January 12, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b Berit Uhlmann: Anti-vaccination campaigns come from a few groups. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . November 18, 2019, accessed February 3, 2020 .
  4. ^ At the side of Robert F. Kennedy Jr .: Is she anti-vaccination? Jessica Biel supports controversial campaign. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten . June 13, 2019, accessed February 3, 2020 .
  5. ^ A b c Ralf Nowotny: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his campaign against vaccinations. In: mimikama . May 12, 2020, accessed May 15, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Markus Becker: Pandemics. They forget danger. In: spiegel.de. February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Eric Sagonowsky: Biopharma aghast as Trump taps vaccines skeptic Kennedy to lead safety commission: reports - FiercePharma. In: fiercepharma.com. January 11, 2017, accessed January 12, 2017 .
  8. ^ Adeel Hassan: Here Is What Jessica Biel Opposes in California's Vaccine Bill . In: The New York Times . June 13, 2019, ISSN  0362-4331 ( online [accessed February 3, 2020]).
  9. ↑ Marc Kreidler: The Top 10 Woo of 2018 [Part I]. In: Skeptical Inquirer . December 27, 2018, accessed February 24, 2020 (American English).
  10. ↑ Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy II and Maeve Kennedy Mckean: RFK Jr. Is Our Brother and Uncle. He's Tragically Wrong About Vaccines. In: Politico . August 5, 2019, accessed on February 24, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Alice Echtermann: Bill Gates' alleged "vaccination crimes" in the fact check. In: correctiv.org. May 18, 2020, accessed May 19, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Felix Neumann: Archbishop Viganò: From Nuncio to Conspiracy theorist www.katholisch.de, May 8, 2020
  13. ↑ Bishops spread conspiracy theories www.tagesschau.de, May 9, 2020
  14. ↑ " RFK, Jr is not convinced Sirhan Sirhan killed his father " , Irish Central, Sept. 13, 2019, cf. See also " Robert F. Kennedy Murder: Son Calls for New Investigation, " Yahoo News, May 28, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Kennedy, Robert Francis Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES RFK junior; Bobby junior
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer, environmental activist, author; Son of Robert Francis Kennedy
DATE OF BIRTH 17th January 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC