ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endured a sometimes heated volley of questions Tuesday from a lawyer challenging his claim that he lives in New York and seeking to keep the independent candidate off the state's presidential ballot.
Kennedy testified that his address is in the well-to-do New York City suburb of Katonah, and he has said he only moved to California temporarily in 2014 to be with his wife, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor Cheryl Hines. The suit filed on behalf of several voters seeks to invalidate his New York ballot petition.
In one tense exchange in the Albany courtroom, voters' attorney Keith Corbett produced a July 2 affirmation from Kennedy saying his driver’s license was registered to the Katonah address. But Corbett said government documents show the registration did not list that address until the next day.
“You are familiar with the term ‘perjury’?” Corbett asked.
“Of course I am,” Kennedy replied, adding that his assistant handled the paperwork.
“I will certainly correct this. I was wrong by 24 hours,” Kennedy said.
“I have lived in New York for 50 years,” he added.
Corbett raised doubts about Kennedy's residency claim on multiple fronts. He handed Kennedy a federal statement of candidacy with a Los Angeles address and had the candidate acknowledge he had moved his mementos, books and pets from New York to California.
“The dogs came, the hawks stayed,” Kennedy said, referring to his raptors.
Kennedy, in a blue suit, confidently answered many questions but seemed less sure with some queries related to a series of trusts and real estate transactions. He was defiant when Corbett produced documents indicating Kennedy voted in 2016 listing an address of a suburban New York home that his sister had sold a year earlier. When Corbett bought up voter fraud, Kennedy responded: “My testimony here is that I never defrauded anybody.”
Kennedy's testimony was to continue Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges Kennedy’s New York ballot nomination petition listed a residence in Katonah while he actually has lived in the Los Angeles area since 2014. The suit is backed by Clear Choice PAC, a super PAC led by supporters of Democratic President Joe Biden. A judge is set to decide the outcome without a jury.
Earlier in the day, the woman who owns the Katonah property testified that Kennedy rents a room from her for $500 a month, but acknowledged that those payments began a day after a news article questioned the candidate's claim that he lives in New York.
Barbara Moss has owned the property in Katonah since 1991 and lives there with her husband, Timothy Haydock, an old Kennedy friend, according to court papers.
Under questioning from Kennedy attorney William F. Savino, Moss said Kennedy was her tenant who pays $500 a month for a room. There is no written lease, she said.
“As long as Bobby needs the room, it will continue," she said “That was our understanding.”
A lawyer for the petitioners, John Quinn, noted that the first payment to Moss was made May 20, the day after a New York Post story casting doubt on Kennedy’s claim that he lived at that address. And Moss affirmed that initial payment was for $6,000, an amount equal to a year’s back rent.
The lawsuit claims Kennedy “at most only visited” the residence about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan.
In a video posted in his Facebook page Tuesday, the 70-year-old Kennedy said he has lived in New York ever since his father moved there in 1964 to run his successful campaign for U.S. Senate. This was after his father's brother, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. His own father was also shot to death in 1968 while running for president.
“I moved out to California in 2014 … to support Cheryl, who could not move at that time. One of us had to," said Kennedy, who led a New York-based environmental group for decades. "We both agreed at that point that when she was done acting there that she’d come back to New York and we’d move back to New York and maybe she would do Broadway or whatever.
“But I always kept New York residence because I love New York,” he said. “It’s part of who I am. It’s part of my identity, and it was important to me to keep it.”
Kennedy has said in court papers that he moved to the Katonah address after being asked last year to leave a nearby home where he had been staying. That account was disputed in court on Monday by the owners of that house, who said Kennedy was never a tenant.
While independent presidential candidates like Kennedy face extremely long odds, he has the potential to do better than any such candidate in decades, helped by his famous name and a loyal base. Both Democrat and Republican strategists worry he could negatively affect their candidate’s chances.
Kennedy's campaign has said he has enough signatures to qualify in 42 states so far. His ballot drive has faced challenges and lawsuits in several states, including North Carolina and New Jersey.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., second from left, arrives at the Albany County Courthouse to fight a lawsuit he falsely claimed to live in New York state, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, arrives at the Albany County Courthouse to fight a lawsuit he falsely claimed to live in New York state, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, arrives at the Albany County Courthouse to fight a lawsuit he falsely claimed to live in New York state, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
ATLANTA (AP) — Many questions in last week's Georgia school shooting are still unanswered, including how the suspect brought a semiautomatic assault rifle to the campus of Apalachee High School and what may have motivated the violence.
The shooting Wednesday in Winder, northeast of Atlanta, killed two teachers and two students. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, with seven of those hit by gunfire.
Colt Gray, 14, is charged as an adult with four counts of murder, and District Attorney Brad Smith has said more charges are likely to be filed against him in connection with the wounded. Authorities have also charged his father, Colin Gray, alleging that he gave his son access to the gun when he knew or should have known that the teen was a danger to himself and others.
In the meantime, relatives are mourning the victims, including teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14.
The 13,000 students at Barrow County's other schools are supposed to return to class Tuesday. Officials have not announced a restart date for the 1,900 students who attend Apalachee.
Superintendent Dallas LeDuff, in a video message Sunday, said sheriff's deputies and state troopers will provide extra security when schools reopen Tuesday, with extra counseling available at all campuses.
Here’s a timeline of what happened on the day of the attack, based on statements by authorities and reporting by The Associated Press and other news media:
8:15 a.m. — First period begins. Officials have not said what class Colt Gray was scheduled for, or if he attended. It's also unclear how Gray got to school that morning or if he was carrying the rifle with him.
9:38 a.m. — First period ends. Students have seven minutes to change to their next class.
9:45 a.m. — Second period begins. Student Lyela Sayarath said she briefly saw Gray in the algebra class where the two sat next to each other. But Gray left the room. Sayarath said she assumed Gray was skipping class, but it's not clear where he may have gone.
9:50 a.m. — Marcee Gray, Colt's mother, calls the high school from 200 miles away in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to warn that her son is having an “extreme emergency,” according to call logs, texts and an interview by Gray's aunt, Annie Brown, with The Washington Post. Brown later confirmed the account to the AP but declined to comment further.
Brown said the mother texted her saying she spoke with a school counselor and urged them to “immediately” find her son to check on him. Call logs show the call lasted until 10 a.m. Relatives of Marcee Gray have told multiple media outlets that she received a text from her son that morning saying he was sorry, without saying what he was apologizing for.
9:45 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. — An administrator comes to the algebra classroom looking for a student with the same last name and a similar first name to Colt Gray, Sayarath said. The other student is in the bathroom, she said, but the administrator takes the other student’s bag. When the other student returns, he tells Sayarath that the administrator was actually seeking Colt Gray. In the meantime, the teacher is called on the intercom, Sayarath said.
About 10:20 a.m. — Colt Gray approaches the door of the algebra classroom. As the intercom buzzes again, the teacher responds, “Oh, he’s here,” seeing Gray outside the classroom door, Sayarath said. When students go to open the door, which automatically locks from the inside when closed, Sayarath said they backed away. She said she saw Colt Gray turn away through the window of the door and then she said she heard 10 or 15 consecutive gunshots. People are shot in the hallway and inside at least one classroom, as others in the halls scramble for safety. According to some students, the three teachers are shot while trying to shield students.
10:23 a.m. — After multiple employees press wireless panic buttons embedded in their employee badges, the school goes into lockdown and a massive law enforcement response begins. Students in other classrooms who hear the gunshots begin texting and calling their parents and others.
10:26 a.m. — The two school resource officers assigned to Apalachee High School approach Gray in the hall, according to GBI Director Chris Hosey. Gray immediately surrenders and is taken into custody.
About 11 a.m. — Law enforcement officers begin searching Colin and Colt Gray's house east of Winder. At the school, officers go from classroom to classroom, first looking for more people with injuries or other shooters. Later, officers evacuate students to the football field as hundreds of parents rush to campus.
About 1 p.m. — The school begins releasing students to parents to take them home.
Students and parents walk off campus at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Police vehicles are seen outside Apalachee High School after a shooting there caused an unknown number of injuries and a suspect was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
An ambulance departs Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Police gather outside Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A medical helicopter is seen in front of Apalachee High School after a shooting at the school Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after the Wednesday school shooting, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
People embrace at a makeshift memorial after a shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after the Wednesday school shooting, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Linda Carter, of Grayson, Ga., kneels near Apalachee High School to place flowers as she mourns for the slain students and teachers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
