San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Long-ago busboy talks about night he helped dying RFK
LOS ANGELES — Juan Romero, a teenage Mexican immigrant, had just stopped to shake the hand of Robert F. Kennedy on the night of his victory in the California presidential primary on June 5, 1968, when a gunman shot the senator in the head. Romero held a wounded Kennedy as he lay on the cold floor of the Ambassador Hotel kitchen.
For almost a half-century, Romero blamed himself, wondering if he could have done more and often asked, what if Kennedy hadn’t stopped for that brief moment to shake my hand?
Today, the 67-year-old Romero doesn’t bear the same guilt, thanks in part to the support of RFK fans who say the former busboy was an example of the type of people Kennedy sought to help in making racial equality and civil rights a cornerstone of his life’s work.
Romero grants few interviews but recently made himself available for the Netflix documentary “Bobby Kennedy for President.”
Born in the small town of Mazatan, Romero moved to Baja California until his family received permission to bring him to the United States as a 10-year-old.
Romero got a job at the Ambassador Hotel as a dishwasher and later a busboy. At the time, the young Romero didn’t understand politics. Yet he knew that President John F. Kennedy had traveled to Mexico and saw footage of Robert Kennedy visiting Mexican-American farmworkers in California. When Robert Kennedy announced he would run for president, Romero got caught up in the excitement.
“When I listened to Robert Kennedy, I felt he wasn’t talking at us, but talking to you personally,” Romero said.
Then came the day Romero met Kennedy. The day before the California primary, Kennedy and his aides ordered room service at the Ambassador Hotel. Romero was on duty and came into the room with a group of other busboys. He saw Kennedy toward the back — one hand held a curtain and the other gripped a phone. Kennedy put down the phone and waved Romero to come forward.
“All I remember was that I kept staring at him with my mouth open,” Romero said. Kennedy grabbed Romero’s hand with both hands and said, “thank you.” For a moment, there was silence.
“I will never forget the handshake and the look … looking right at you with those piercing eyes that said, ‘I’m one of you. We’re good,’ ” Romero said. “He wasn’t looking at my skin, he wasn’t looking at my age … he was looking at me as an American.”
The busboy walked out of Kennedy’s room with complete happiness. Nothing would stop him from pursuing his dreams, Romero felt. “Now, they call it swagger,” he said. “I had no doubt that I had just met the next president of the United States.”
The next day voters went to the polls, and Kennedy won on the strength of Mexican-American and black voters.
In the Embassy Room, Kennedy thanked supporters, including United Farm Worker co-founder Dolores Huerta. After his victory speech, Huerta tried to usher Kennedy to another room where mariachis were waiting to play for him. Kennedy walked downstairs and decided to go through a hotel kitchen and meet with reporters.
In the kitchen, Kennedy raced through and waved to kitchen staff. Then, he saw Romero. Did he remember him from the day before? Romero stuck out his hand and Kennedy stopped to shake it. During that brief pause, a man ran toward Kennedy and opened fire. Romero ran to Kennedy. News photographers captured pictures of him next to the bloodied Kennedy.
“Is everybody OK?” Kennedy asked. Yes, he said. “Everything will be OK,” Kennedy said before losing consciousness. Romero put a rosary in Kennedy’s hand. Romero turned and saw a group of men punching the gunman, Sirhan Sirhan.
“I felt my hand making a fist to join in,” Romero said. “Then I thought, what’s the point?”