Environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy, Jr., was freed from prison yesterday and quickly returned to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, where he ripped into the U.S. Navy for continuing its bombing exercises there. Kennedy says the bombing is harming islanders’ health and damaging the environment. He served 30 days in prison for trespassing on Navy land. While he was in prison, Kennedy’s wife gave birth to a son, who now has the middle name “Vieques.” The Navy plans to resume the exercises today, ignoring last weekend’s nonbinding referendum in which 68 percent of Vieques voters supported an immediate halt to the bombing. The U.S. House Armed Services Committee backed a measure yesterday that would prohibit the Navy from closing the bombing range until it found a replacement that was as good or better.
