Independent Candidate 'RFK Jr.' Says He Tossed Dead Teddy Bear Into Central Park

Photo: Jon Cherry Getty Images via Agence France-Presse Independent White House Candidate Robert Kennedy Jr

Agence France-Presse in Washington

Published at 3:07 p.m.

• United States

Independent White House candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. caused a stir last May after revelations that a worm had eaten away part of his brain. Now he's back with a new, unusual story: that of abandoning a dead bear cub in Central Park.

The anti-vaccine activist — nephew of assassinated President John Fitzgerald Kennedy — shared the story in a video posted to social media Sunday, apparently trying to preempt a New Yorker article that mentioned the bizarre story from about a decade ago.

In the video, shot during what appears to be an after-dinner chat, “RFK Jr.” recounts that while on a falconry trip with friends in upstate New York in 2014, a pickup truck in front of him struck and killed a six-month-old black bear.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

Eager to salvage the animal’s carcass for meat, the scion of America’s most illustrious political family put it in the back of his own car. vehicle.

But the excursion was delayed, and he was unable to bring the remains home to Westchester County.

A dinner he was attending that evening in New York also prevented him from doing so, and Mr. Kennedy realized he had to go straight to the airport to catch a flight.

“The bear was in my car, and I didn’t want to [leave it there], because that would have been serious,” the 70-year-old says in a gravelly voice.

After much thought, Mr. Kennedy and his companions took the carcass to Central Park, in the heart of Manhattan, and left it under an old bicycle he kept in his vehicle.

When the animal’s body was found, the case became a major noise.

“I thought, 'Oh my God, what have I done?,'” Kennedy said, adding, “I was worried because my fingerprints were all over the bike.”

The story lay dormant for a decade, he says, until a fact-checker from the New Yorker called him to check it for a feature story about him. The story has yet to be published.

“It’s going to be a bad story,” Mr. Kennedy prophesies, laughing.