RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan granted parole, on 16th try

(CN) — A California Parole Board panel granted parole to Sirhan Sirhan, imprisoned for 53 years in California for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

Before the decision is finalized, it has 90 days to be reviewed by the full parole board before going to California Governor Gavin Newsom for consideration. Newsom will have 30 days to reverse the parole board’s decision.

Sirhan was convicted for fatally shooting U.S. senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy at a Los Angeles hotel in 1968. Sirhan was initially sentenced to death before his sentence was commuted to life in prison when capital punishment was briefly outlawed by the California Supreme Court in 1972. Sirhan was previously denied parole 15 times, but this was the first occasion in which prosecutors did not speak at the hearing in opposition to his release.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón declined to send prosecutors to the parole hearing to argue that Sirhan should not be released. Gascón’s decision follows campaign promises made in his 2020 race against then-incumbent District Attorney Jackie Lacey. A campaign centered on reform propelled his win against Lacey, and he has pledged not to pursue continued incarceration for those who have been rehabilitated in prison, insisting that those decisions should be left to the parole board.

Kennedy’s youngest son Douglas, a toddler at the time of the assassination, spoke in favor of Sirhan’s release during Friday’s hearing. Paul Schrade, who was wounded in the shooting, spoke in favor of Sirhan's release as well.

Sirhan, who is Palestinian and was born Jerusalem, has maintained that he does not remember the killing. In a 1989 interview with Inside Edition, Sirhan said that he felt angry and betrayed by Kennedy’s support for Israel.

The 1968 assassination has long been a source of conspiracy theories, though multiple investigations determined Sirhan acted alone. Son Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suggested Sirhan is not guilty. The younger RFK was present at Sirhan’s parole hearing but did not address the panel.

It remains to be seen how Newsom will respond to Sirhan being granted parole. Newsom faces a recall election Sept. 14 and he has previously overturned decisions by the parole board in high-profile cases. In November 2020, he blocked the release of Leslie Van Houten, who is serving a life sentence for participating in the Manson family murders in 1969.

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