On the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, November 22, 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of JFK and son of Robert F. Kennedy, who was also assassinated in 1968, has initiated a petition urging President Joe Biden to release the remaining government records about JFK’s assassination.
The call for transparency coincides with Robert Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign, during which he expressed concerns about low trust in the government. He believes that releasing these records could help restore this trust.
The 1992 Kennedy Records Assassination Act mandated the release of all records related to JFK’s assassination by 2017. However, President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have classified certain documents, citing concerns over law enforcement, international relations, and national security.
President Trump released over 53,000 documents during his tenure but postponed the release of some. Biden’s administration released more than 13,000 documents, claiming to have made available “every single word that is appropriate for release under the standards of the Act.” Despite this, close to 1% of the Kennedy assassination files remain undisclosed.
Kennedy Jr. argues that the full disclosure of these records is critical to the public’s understanding of the historical event. He has questioned the reasons behind the government’s reluctance to reveal these records, even after six decades, and has highlighted that the American public is entitled to see every document, as required by law. He contends that the continued withholding of these documents is a violation of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.
The assassination of JFK has long been a subject of public intrigue and speculation. President Kennedy was mortally wounded by gunfire on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. The alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was charged with the crime but met his own end at the hands of assassin Jack Ruby before a trial could take place
This incident has spurred various conspiracy theories, and a recent Gallup poll found that about two-thirds of U.S. adults believe Oswald did not act alone.
