A two-person parole board in California on Friday voted to grant a request for the release from prison of Sirhan Sirhan, the killer of Robert F. Kennedy, 53 years after his arrest and conviction. The board ruled that the 77-year-old man is no longer a threat to society.
Sirhan said that he is remorseful about the murder he committed at the age of 24 in 1968.
“Over half a century has passed,” Sirhan told the two parole commissioners, according to The Washington Post, “and that young impulsive kid I was does not exist anymore... Sen. Kennedy was the hope of the world and I injured, and I harmed all of them and it pains me to experience that, the knowledge for such a horrible deed.”
After his conviction for the murder of the then-Democratic presidential nominee, Sirhan was sentenced to death - a ruling later reduced to a life sentence. Since 1975, when he became eligible for release following the cancellation of capital punishment in California, Sirhan has had 16 parole hearings, including the latest.
His prison release, however, must still be granted by a full board, and would then be handed to the governor of California for final approval.
Sirhan's release had the backing of Kennedy's family members, particularly from the latter's son, Douglas H. Kennedy.
“I really do believe any prisoner who is found to be not a threat to themselves or the world should be released,” Kennedy said, according to The Associated Press. "I believe that applies to everyone, every human being, including Mr. Sirhan...I was very deeply moved by Mr. Sirhan’s expression of remorse and at times it brought tears to my eyes and affected me very deeply."
Kennedy's other son, Robert Kennedy Jr., penned a letter to the parole board, dismissing the letter opposing the parole that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department allegedly sent on behalf of the family. He stated that the letter was not sent at the direction of the family, and voiced support for Sirhan's parole.
“As you may know, I have been a strong advocate for the release of Mr. Sirhan B. Sirhan since I learned of evidence that was not presented to the court during his trial", the letter said, cited by the WaPo. ”My father, I think, would be really happy today. My father believed in compassion."
One of the five people who were wounded at the shooting that killed RFK, Paul Schrade, said that Sirhan was innocent since he shot Schrade, and not Kennedy.
“I’m pleased that we’ve done this for Sirhan because he didn’t deserve all of the very bad behavior from the prison system," he said after the ruling, referring to the number of requests for parole that were denied, "and prosecutors and police. He was innocent and didn’t deserve this for 53 years.”
RFK Assassination
At the time a Democratic presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy had won the California and South Dakota primaries on 4 June 1968, indicating that it was likely that he would become the party's nominee. A day later, in a ballroom at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, RFK addressed supporters, and then headed through the hotel kitchen, reportedly having been informed that it was a shortcut to the press room.
As he was shaking hands with a hotel busboy in the kitchen passageway, the 24-year-old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan opened fire, hitting Kennedy three times and wounding five others.
Despite being rushed to the hospital and undergoing extensive neurosurgery to remove a bullet and bone pieces from his brain, RFK was pronounced dead on 6 June.
His death, occurring five years after that of his older brother, the 35th US president, John F. Kennedy, prompted waves of conspiracy theories.
Sirhan was convicted for the assassination of RFK in 1969, with prosecutors insisting that he developed a hatred toward RFK due to the latter's support of American military aid to Israel during the Six-Day War. Sirhan's legal defense team claimed the killer was mentally ill at the time of the shooting. Sirhan admitted his guilt in court.