On Wednesday, a California panel denied the parole of Sirhan Sirhan, Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, on the grounds that the 78-year-old inmate still has no understanding of why he shot the senator and then-presidential candidate in 1968 .
Sirhan’s lawyer, Angela Berry, opposed the board’s position, saying that Sirhan has given evidence of his actions and that his psychiatrists have said for years that he is unlikely to pose a danger to society if he is released.
Two years ago, another California parole board agreed with Berry, voting to release Sirhan, but Gov. Gavin Newson rejected the decision in 2022.
Berry said she believes the new board members on Wednesday were swayed by Newsom and by the lawyers representing Kennedy’s widow and some of his children — several relatives of the slain politician oppose Sirhan’s release, but not all.
When he rejected Sirhan’s freedom last year, the governor said the prisoner remains a threat to the public and has not taken responsibility for a crime that changed American history.
On Wednesday, a California panel denied the parole of Sirhan Sirhan, Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, on the grounds that the 78-year-old inmate still has no understanding of why he shot the senator and then-presidential candidate in 1968 .
The board denied Sirhan parole and said it remains unclear whether he fully understands the weight of his deadly actions 55 years ago
“I feel like the board is giving in to the governor’s political whim,” Berry said after the hearing at a federal prison in San Diego County.
Berry said the elderly prisoner was also “not so eloquent” this time when he spoke to the board. The board recommended that Sirhan do more work to better understand what makes someone a political assassin, she said.
The parole board hearing comes nearly six months after Berry asked a Los Angeles County judge reverse Newsom’s denial. The case is ongoing and Berry said it was unclear how Wednesday’s refusal by the board will affect the case.
“They deemed him fit for release last time and nothing has changed,” Berry said. “He continues to show great behavior.”
In a 3 1/2 minute message played during a Berry press conference in September, Sirhan said he regrets his actions every day. It was the first time Sirhan’s voice had been publicly heard since a televised parole hearing in 2011, before California banned audio or visual recordings of such proceedings.
“To turn this weight into something positive, I’ve devoted my life to self-improvement, guiding others in prison on how to live a peaceful life that revolves around non-violence,” he said. “By doing this, I’m making sure no one else falls victim to my actions and hopefully I’m making an impact for others to follow.”
Sirhan shot Kennedy just after the U.S. Senator from New York claimed victory in the crucial 1968 Democratic presidential primary in California. He injured five others in the shooting at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Sirhan, a Christian Palestinian from Jordan who suffered childhood trauma from the bombings in the Middle East, has admitted he was angry with Kennedy for his support of Israel, but has maintained he has no recollection of the shooting and had alcohol shortly before drunk.
Sirhan, who was convicted of first-degree murder, was originally sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life when the California Supreme Court briefly banned the death penalty in 1972.
He was paroled 15 times until 2021, when the board recommended his release.
Sirhan’s younger brother, Munir Sirhan, has said his brother can live with him in Pasadena, California, if he gets paroled. Sirhan Sirhan has waived his right to challenge deportation to his native Jordan.
Sirhan has been imprisoned for 55 years since he shot RfK and five others in the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel shooting
Sirhan shot Kennedy just after the U.S. Senator from New York claimed victory in the pivotal California Democratic presidential primary in 1968
Berry filed a 53-page habeas corpus asking the judge to rule that Newsom had violated state law, which requires prisoners to be paroled unless they pose a current unreasonable risk to public safety. Recent California laws also required the parole panel to assume that Sirhan committed the crime at a young age – 24 – and that he is now an elderly inmate.
She is challenging the governor’s reversal as an “abuse of discretion,” a denial of Sirhan’s constitutional right to due process and as a violation of California law. She also claims that Newsom misrepresented the facts in his decision.
Newsom’s office declined to comment.
Newsom ignored two probation commissioners who had determined that Sirhan was no longer a risk. Newsom said, among other things, that Sirhan has not repudiated violence committed in his name, raising the risk that he could spark political unrest.
The pronounciation split the Kennedy familywith RFK’s widow, Ethel Kennedy, and several of Kennedy’s nine surviving children resisting his parole.
Wednesday’s board denied Sirhan parole for three years, but he can petition to request that his 17th parole hearing be held before then.