Robert F Kennedy’s killer Sirhan Sirhan has parole blocked after review by Gavin Newsom and family are ‘deeply relieved’
CALIFORNIA Governor Gavin Newsom denied a request for parole by Sirhan Sirhan, who has spent 53 years in prison for the shooting death of Senator Robert Kennedy.
"We are greatly appreciative of the Governor's consideration of the facts and his faithful application of the law," some members of the Kennedy family said in a statement.
Kerry Kennedy shared the family's press release on Twitter.
"By reaffirming that freedom is dependent on responsibility, the Governor protects Californians and people around the world--and that is in the tradition, and faithful to the legacy, of Robert Kennedy," the statement reads.
Newsom argued that Sirhan lacked "insight" from his crime that would prevent him from making "the same types of dangerous decisions" again.
“Mr. Sirhan’s assassination of Senator Kennedy is among the most notorious crimes in American history,” Newsom said in a statement.
“After decades in prison, he has failed to address the deficiencies that led him to assassinate Senator Kennedy."
Robert Kennedy was killed on June 6, 1968, after being gunned down in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
He was shot three times by Palestinian-born Sirhan Bishara Sirhan and died the following day after failing to regain consciousness.
Born in Jerusalem in 1944, Sirhan’s family moved to the United States when he was 12 years old, amid escalating violence in the Middle East.
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Motivated by the New York Senator’s support for Israel, Sirhan assassinated Bobby exactly one year after the conflict started.
The shooter, who plead not guilty to the murder, claimed he was drunk when Kennedy was shot.
In a series of parole hearings and interviews, Sirhan had continually claimed he has little to no memory of the crime.
Sirhan was originally sentenced to death by gas chamber after a three-month trial in 1969.
However, three years after he was convicted, the US Supreme Court overturned California’s death penalty law in 1972.
In August 2021, a parole board ruled that Sirhan Sirhan should be made eligible for parole.
The California Parole Board staff then sent it on to Governor Newsom's desk to for final approval.
Kennedy's son Douglas cheered the board's decision.
“I’m overwhelmed just by being able to view Mr. Sirhan face-to-face,” he said.
“I think I’ve lived my life both in fear of him and his name in one way or another.
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“And I am grateful today to see him as a human being worthy of compassion and love.”
However, former US Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and five of his siblings including Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Christopher Kennedy, Maxwell Kennedy and Rory Kennedy issued a previous statement saying they "adamantly oppose" Sirhan's release and were "devastated" that he was recommended for parole, according to .