Palestinian who killed Robert Kennedy denied parole for 16th time

A review board found Sirhan Sirhan eligible for parole in 2021, but was overruled by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

By JNS

Sirhan Sirhan, the Jerusalem-born Palestinian who assassinated then-U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, was denied parole on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

A review board ruled in 2021 that Sirhan was eligible for parole, but was overruled by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

“After carefully reviewing the case, including records in the California State Archives, I have determined that Sirhan has not developed the accountability and insight required to support his safe release into the community,” Newsom wrote in an op-ed at the time explaining his decision.

Sirhan subsequently sued the state, arguing the governor’s action was illegal.

It was not immediately clear how Wednesday’s ruling would impact the lawsuit.

Sirhan was convicted of murdering Kennedy, 42, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, just minutes after Kennedy had given his victory speech for winning the California Democratic presidential primary. Kennedy died in hospital the following day.

His older brother, former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas in 1963.

Sirhan has claimed he has no recollection of shooting Robert Kennedy, although he is on record as saying that he was motivated to kill him due to his support for Israel.

He was sentenced to death in 1969, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison following California’s banning of the death penalty.

Sirhan is currently imprisoned at California’s Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.