RFK widow: Deny parole for assassin
BOSTON – The wife of the late Robert F. Kennedy said assassin Sirhan Sirhan should not be released from prison, further roiling a family divide over the possible parole of the man convicted of killing her husband in California in 1968.
In a statement released on Twitter by her daughter, lawyer and activist Kerry Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy said Tuesday: “He should not be paroled.”
“Bobby believed we should work to ‘tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of the world,’ ” Kennedy, 93, wrote.
“He wanted to end the war in Vietnam and bring people together to build a better, stronger country. More than anything, he wanted to be a good father and loving husband,” she wrote, adding: “Our family and our country suffered an unspeakable loss due to the inhumanity of one man. We believe in the gentleness that spared his life, but in taming his act of violence, he should not have the opportunity to terrorize again.”
Ethel Kennedy’s statement came a week after former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, RFK’s oldest son, also denounced the possible parole of Sirhan, 77.
Two other RFK children, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Douglas Kennedy, said they support the release.
The California Parole Board found last month that Sirhan no longer poses a threat to society.
The ruling will be reviewed over the next four months by the board’s staff. Then it will be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will have 30 days to decide whether to grant it, reverse it or modify it.