On June 5, 1968, a Palestinian radical named Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Robert Kennedy, who was then a senator and presidential candidate. Sirhan, who has stated clearly that he committed the murder because of Kennedy’s support for Israel, received a death sentence the next year, which was then commuted to life in prison. Last Friday, California officials recommended him for parole. Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, Robert Kennedy’s son, urges Governor Gavin Newsom to reject the request:
Justice is not served by releasing a confessed political assassin, a first-degree murderer, who is serving a life sentence for his role in a crime against America. To begin with, the process was flawed. No prosecutor appeared at the hearing, for the first time ever. Because of the L.A. County district attorney George Gascón’s policies, no one from his office was allowed to be present at the parole hearing to give voice to the views of the families affected by this crime. Nor did Gascón have the courage to show up to restate the severity of the crime and the reasons so many Americans feel that Sirhan should remain behind bars.
At the last parole hearing, in 2016, the board rejected parole, stating that Sirhan did not show remorse, or perhaps even understand the enormity of his crime. If the former, he is unrepentant, and should not be released. If the latter, he remains a danger to society. In either case, he should not be released.
Even [in 1968], our country showed signs of fragmenting along political lines, in the way that has become so familiar in 2021. But I have always believed that my father could have bridged that divide and helped us heal our wounds. Much of that was destroyed by the violent acts of a single
Because of Sirhan we never got to live out that better history. He killed my father for supporting Israel and the mere thought of Sirhan returning to the West Bank or Gaza, where he may be cheered for his crime, is sickening.
Read more on Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-08-28/sirhan-robert-kennedy-assassination-parole