Kennedy Visits East Palestine, Ohio, Site Of Train Disaster: "This whole town is a crime scene"

 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in New York City on February 17. Photo by Jason Schott.

Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited East Palestine, Ohio, the site of a train derailment that led to one of the worst environmental disasters in decades.

38 train cars carrying vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals derailed when a wheel bearing overheated and came off, on February 3, 2023.

Kennedy has been an environmental lawyer for nearly 40 years, and he is representing residents in a class action lawsuit that targets the railroad company, Norfolk Southern, and the federal government. 

In an interview that with Fox News' Martha MacCallum that aired Wednesday, Kennedy met with five East Palestine residents, whose lives were upended by what Kennedy called a "crime."

MacCallum opened the segment by explaining how, three days after the derailment, officials made the determination that, rather than risking an explosion, they would do a controlled burn. This is a decision that many residents believe was devastating to their health and their property.

"This [disaster] occurred because of a failure of government," Kennedy said. "Norfolk Southern was paying its executives 80% of their salary for reducing costs. That's where their bonuses come from. The company should be criminally charged for what it did to this community. It was an act of theft. It stole the property values. It stole the health. It stole the pursuit of happiness from this wonderful community."

Kennedy was then asked what he would do if elected President to prevent disasters like this one, and he and he said, "Preliminarily, we need to unravel the corporate capture at DOT that allowed this to happen. And right now, President Biden says that he's going to fix this problem and hold them responsible. Why isn't the Attorney General investigating this and filing criminal charges?

"This whole town is a crime scene. What I would love to see President Biden say is, 'This happened because of a failure of government. This happened because these agencies are captured, they're corrupt, and I'm not going to tolerate it anymore. I'm going to expose and fire the people who are not doing the proper testing. I'm going to prosecute the people who are responsible at the outset.' Instead of a vague promise that, 'We're going to take care of everybody.'" (please click here to this link of the interview provided by Kennedy 24)

From Kennedy24.com

Kennedy also explains what he would have done if this disaster happened on his watch in this video provided by his campaign (please click here)

CONDEMNATION FOR "THE DAILY SHOW": While outlets like this one, Fox News, and News Nation give Kennedy fair coverage, he still endures numerous hit pieces that are full of hate, and not much facts. The Daily Show ran the latest one of these on Tuesday, and it demeaned Mr. Kennedy's entire life essentially, mocking his admittance to Harvard as due to just his last name (a lie when you hear him speak), minimizing his environmental work, which included cleaning the Hudson River, and even mocking his addiction, which he has talked openly about in a way most public figures don't. Even if you are not a fan of Mr. Kennedy, this was shameful and the complete opposite of what was expected when Jon Stewart, at one time a friend of RFK Jr., took back the reins of the program. If Mr. Kennedy ever appears as a guest, Stewart should apologize immediately.