California board denies parole for Sirhan Sirhan, man who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy
A different parole board recommended Sirhan Sirhan's release in 2021, but Gov. Newsom rejected that decision
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Sirhan Sirhan, the man who shot and killed Robert F. Kennedy 55 years ago in Los Angeles, was denied parole on Wednesday by a panel in California.
It marks the first time that Sirhan's case has been up for review after a different parole board recommended that he be released in 2021.
Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected that recommendation in January 2022, arguing that Sirhan still poses a threat to public safety.
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"Mr. Sirhan’s assassination of Senator Kennedy is among the most notorious crimes in American history," Newsom said at the time. "Mr. Sirhan killed Senator Kennedy during a dark season of political assassinations, just nine weeks after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s murder and four and a half years after the murder of Senator Kennedy’s brother, President John F. Kennedy."
Sirhan, 78, assassinated Robert F. Kennedy at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968.
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RFK, a U.S. senator from New York who was in the midst of a presidential campaign, had just delivered a victory speech in California’s Democratic presidential primary.
A judge initially sentenced Sirhan to death, but his sentence was commuted to life in 1972 when California briefly outlawed capital punishment.
Sirhan's attorney filed a writ of habeas corpus last September, arguing that Gov. Newsom's denial of her client's parole was an "abuse of discretion."
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A video of Sirhan was played at a news conference after that motion was filed, in which he apologized.
"To transform this weight into something positive, I have dedicated my life to self-improvement, the mentoring of others in prison on how to live a peaceful life that revolves around nonviolence," Sirhan said last September. "By doing this, I ensure that no other person is victimized by my actions again and hopefully make an impact on others to follow."
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Most of Kennedy's surviving children supported Newsom's rejection of Sirhan's release last year, but two of his sons – Douglas Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – have expressed support for his release.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.