Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggests Jan. 6 prosecutions politically motivated, says he wants to "hear every side"

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's running for president as an independent candidate, suggested in a statement that the prosecutions of rioters who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, might be politically motivated, a view that echoes that of 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 had been "stripped of their constitutional liberties."

Kennedy's campaign then said that statement "was an error that does not reflect Mr. Kennedy's views."