Don’t free father’s assassin, beg six of RFK’s children
SIX of Robert F Kennedy’s children have said they oppose his killer’s release because he ‘committed a crime against our nation’.
They also said murderer Sirhan Sirhan should remain in jail and that they were ‘devastated’ by the prospect of his release.
Their statement was signed by Joseph P Kennedy II, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Christopher G Kennedy, Maxwell T Kennedy and Rory Kennedy.
But two of Mr Kennedy’s children support Sirhan’s release, Robert F Kennedy Jr and Douglas Kennedy. Sirhan shot RFK dead in 1968 when he was a New York senator running for the Democratic presidential nomination, in a killing which changed American history.
Last week, a parole board in California recommended Sirhan, 77, be released on his 16th attempt. The board found Sirhan no longer posed a threat and noted he had enrolled in anger management classes and Alcoholics Anonymous. The six Kennedy children appealed to California governor Gavin Newsom, who will now have to rule on the release. They wrote: ‘He took our father from our family and he took him from America. We are in disbelief that this man would be recommended for release.’ Robert F Kennedy Jr said he backed Sirhan’s release because he ‘wept, clinching my hands, and asked for forgiveness’ when they met in prison. He has said he did not think Sirhan killed his father. He believes a second gunman in the same room was behind the assassination.