Op-Ed: Newsom: Why I will not release Sirhan Sirhan on parole
Los Angeles TimesJan 13, 2022
On Wednesday, Sirhan Sirhan, serving a life sentence for assassinating presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, was denied parole for the 16th time despite a review board recommending he walk free in 2021.
Sirhan was convicted of shooting and killing Kennedy, a New York Senator and brother of John F. Kennedy, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles right after he won the California Democratic presidential primary. Five others were also wounded.
Sirhan hasn't developed the accountability and insight required for his parole. The murder not only deprived the nation of a promising leader during a time of national turmoil, but it also left 11 children without a father. Equally as important, his shifting narrative of claiming not to remember the crime and portraying himself as the victim to later expressing remorse shows he hasn't learned from the event and is still a risk of further violence.
For decades, the state's own psychiatrists have deemed that Sirhan poses no threat to society. Robert Kennedy had a Catholic belief in redemption, forgiveness, and justice, and honoring the previous board's ruling to release Sirhan would uphold these values. With some evidence pointing towards Sirhan potentially not even being the ultimate murderer — despite his indisputable role in the crime — it's time to let him go.