Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questions prosecutions for Jan. 6 attack, says he wants to hear ‘every side’

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a lengthy statement Friday suggested that the prosecution of rioters who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, might be politically motivated, partly aligning himself with the false portrayal being pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies.

The statement came a day after Kennedy came under fire for a fundraising email that painted a sympathetic portrait of the rioters as “activists” who were “stripped of their constitutional liberties.”

While Kennedy’s campaign said it had severed ties with a contractor who sent the fundraising email, his latest statement struck a similar tone. Rather than disavowing the idea that the rioters are being prosecuted unjustly, Kennedy has embraced it, saying he is “concerned about the possibility that political objectives motivated the vigor of the prosecution of the J6 defendants.”

When it comes to the events of Jan. 6, Kennedy said: “I want to hear every side.”

Kennedy in his statement does partially criticize Trump — saying the attack on the Capitol happened with his “encouragement” and “in the context of his delusion that the election was stolen from him.” Yet Kennedy said as president he would appoint a special counsel to look into whether Trump allies were unfairly singled out for prosecution, “and I will right any wrongs that we discover.”

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