Jan. 6 pardons, RFK Jr.'s autism comments
Recent comments by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about people with autism were harmful, dangerous, and untrue, a reader writes. Credit: AP
Jan. 6 pardons help explain our violence
After the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence, it was shocking that some acts of those normalizing political violence were not mentioned in the editorial “Violence stains politics again” Opinion, April 15].
The editorial did not remind readers that President Donald Trump issued a blanket pardon that effectively freed all the convicted Jan. 6 rioters and erased the work of the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history.
This includes nearly 1,600 people arrested or convicted of riot-related crimes. More than 600 were charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing police. Several deaths, suicides and lingering trauma continue to plague officers who worked at the Capitol that day.
The unprecedented violence on Jan. 6 and Trump’s rewarding the perpetrators should have been noted as events encouraging this as normal, pushing the bloodied landscape we find ourselves in today.
— Jeanette Walowitz, Great Neck
Comments about autism dangerous
Recent comments by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about people with autism were harmful, dangerous, and untrue [“Autism agenda alarms LI experts,” News, April 19]. His suggesting that individuals on the spectrum will never pay taxes, hold a job or write a poem is offensive and incorrect.
As CEO of EPIC Family of Human Service Agencies, I see individuals with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities empowered to live independently, work, create, and contribute meaningfully to their communities.
Reducing them to stereotypes denies their humanity. This kind of rhetoric spreads stigma and fuels exclusion. It creates barriers where there should be opportunity and understanding.
We should be lifting people up — not writing them off. These inspiring individuals with autism deserve respect, support, and the freedom to define their futures.
— Lisa Burch, Rockville Centre
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN OUR DAILY CONVERSATION. Just go to newsday.com/submitaletter and follow the prompts. Or email your opinion to letters@newsday.com. Submissions should be no more than 200 words. Please provide your full name, hometown, phone number and any relevant expertise or affiliation. Include the headline and date of the article you are responding to. Letters become the property of Newsday and are edited for all media. Due to volume, readers are limited to one letter in print every 45 days. Published letters reflect the ratio received on each topic.
