Kennedy admits to bizarre staging of a baby bear
Ten years ago, a dead bear cub was found in New York's Central Park. Little did anyone know at the time: a presidential candidate from the Kennedy clan would confess to having placed the animal there.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has caused a stir with an unusual revelation. In a video posted on the X platform, Kennedy admits to having placed a dead bear in New York's Central Park about ten years ago. According to his account, he initially took the bear, which had been run over by another vehicle, with the intention of using it. However, after a dinner in New York, he left the carcass in the park and arranged the scene with an old bicycle to make it look like the animal had been hit by a car.
Kennedy says he was on his way to meet a group for a falconry hunt in the Hudson Valley in the U.S. state of New York when the accident occurred. A vehicle ahead of him hit the bear, killing it. It was a young bear, Kennedy adds. He then loaded the dead animal into his van with the intention of removing the skin and storing the meat in his refrigerator at a later time, which is permitted in that state.
After the hunt, however, he went to a dinner engagement. It got so late that he didn't have time to go home, but had to go to the airport. Kennedy says he didn't want to leave the bear in the van, so he came up with an idea to get rid of the animal. He had an old bicycle in the van.
"Oh my God, what have I done?" Kennedy says, recalling that he and his companions, who had been drinking alcohol, placed the bear in Central Park and made it look like it had been hit by a bike. Kennedy says he hadn't been drinking. The next day, it was on every news channel and every front page. He saw a report on TV where an area in Central Park was cordoned off, with helicopters and police cars in use. He thought to himself, "Oh my God, what have I done?" Kennedy says he initially worried that his fingerprints might be found on the bike. However, nothing happened for a decade.
Kennedy hints that this confession is a preemptive move to a planned publication by The New Yorker magazine. Neither his campaign nor The New Yorker have responded to a request for comment from Reuters so far. The incident is gaining renewed attention because, in 2014, a dead bear cub was indeed found in Central Park.
Kennedy is from the same American political dynasty. According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, he is favored by eight percent of voters and is considered a long shot. However, his participation in the November election could potentially pose a problem for both Republican and Democratic candidates, even if he only manages to sway a few voters.
The admission by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about a deceased bear cub in Central Park ten years ago has sparked discussions about the upcoming US presidential election of 2024. His unusual confession, wherein he admitted to leaving a bear carcass in the park after a vehicle accident, has brought back memories of a similar incident that occurred in Central Park in 2014.
