Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said while January 6 rioters deserved to be punished, many prosecutions of non-violent protesters were excessive.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a statement on the January 6 prosecutions Friday, saying that while violent rioters deserved to be punished, many prosecutions of non-violent protesters were excessive.
Kennedy’s statement undercuts the Democratic Party’s effort to portray the 2024 election as a “defense of democracy” and a referendum on the so-called “insurrection,” which Democrats blame on former President Donald Trump.
Kennedy’s statement reads as follows:
January 6 is one of the most polarizing topics on the political landscape. I am listening to people of diverse viewpoints on it in order to make sense of the event and what followed. I want to hear every side.
It is quite clear that many of the January 6 protestors broke the law in what may have started as a protest but turned into a riot. Because it happened with the encouragement of President Trump, and in the context of his delusion that the election was stolen from him, many people see it not as a riot but as an insurrection.
I have not examined the evidence in detail, but reasonable people, including Trump opponents, tell me there is little evidence of a true insurrection.
