Politics

Robert F. Kennedy assassin, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, denied parole by California governor

Minyvonne Burke
WATCH LIVE
Sirhan Sirhan is shown in this handout photo taken February 9, 2016, and provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation | Reuters

California Gov. Gavin Newsom denied parole Thursday for Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan.

Sirhan was found suitable for parole in August by a two-person panel. However, the California Parole Board's staff had 120 days to review the decision, and the governor had another 30 days to approve, deny or modify it.

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"Mr. Sirhan's assassination of Senator Kennedy is among the most notorious crimes in American history," Newsom wrote in his decision. "After decades in prison, he has failed to address the deficiencies that led him to assassinate Senator Kennedy. Mr. Sirhan lacks the insight that would prevent him from making the same types of dangerous decisions he made in the past."

It was the 16th time Sirhan sought parole following his conviction for assassinating Lennedy, 42, in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968.

The presidential hopeful had been celebrating his victory in the state's Democratic primary and died a day after the shooting.

Sirhan, a Palestinian-born Christian from Jordan who opposed Kennedy's support for Israel, was caught with a gun in his hand but has maintained for years that he doesn't remember shooting the senator. He was initially sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison after California banned the death penalty.

"Bobby believed we should work to 'tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of the world.' He wanted to end the war in Vietnam and bring people together to build a better, stronger country. More than anything, he wanted to be a good father and loving husband," Ethel Kennedy said in September via a statement to NBC News.

"Our family and our country suffered an unspeakable loss due to the inhumanity of one man. We believe in the gentleness that spared his life, but in taming his act of violence, he should not have the opportunity to terrorize again," she said, ending her statement with: "He should not be paroled."

In a separate statement, Kennedy's children urged the parole board staff, the full board and the governor "to reverse" the recommendation for parole.