California parole panel votes in favor of release from prison for Sirhan Sirhan

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post



Sirhan Sirhan arrives for his parole hearing on Friday at a prison in San Diego. (AP)


A California parole board panel on Friday voted in favor of Sirhan B. Sirhan’s request for release from prison on parole, 53 years after he was arrested and convicted of the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, finding that he was no longer a threat to society, according to Sirhan’s brother, one of Kennedy’s sons and one of Sirhan’s surviving victims. The slaying of Kennedy (D-N.Y.), then a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, likely changed the course of American history.

But Sirhan’s lawyer argued that was an irrelevant consideration for parole — that the criteria of rehabilitation, remorse and future dangerousness applied to all prisoners should also be applied to Sirhan, now 77. “Over half a century has passed,” Sirhan told the two parole commissioners, “and that young impulsive kid I was does not exist anymore...Sen. Kennedy was the hope of the world and I injured, and I harmed all of them and it pains me to experience that, the knowledge for such a horrible deed.” It was Sirhan’s 16th parole hearing. Since California abolished capital punishment in 1972, and Sirhan’s sentence was reduced to life, he has been eligible for release since 1975.

The decision by the two-person panel will be reviewed by the full parole board for 90 days before it is final. Then the California governor, currently Gavin Newsom (D) who is facing a recall election which ends on Sept. 14, will have 30 days to uphold the decision, reverse it, or send it back to the board. Kennedy’s family made a late decision to appear at the hearing, with son Douglas H. Kennedy speaking in favor of Sirhan’s parole. “I really do believe any prisoner who is found to be not a threat to themselves or the world should be released,” Douglas Kennedy said, according to the Associated Press. “I believe that applies to everyone, every human being, including Mr. Sirhan...I was very deeply removed by Mr. Sirhan’s expression of remorse and at times it brought tears to my eyes and affected me very deeply.”

Another son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sent a letter to the parole board on Friday in support of Sirhan after learning that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had sent a letter opposing parole “on behalf of the Kennedy family.”“Please know that that letter was not at the direction of the ‘family,’ and certainly not me,” Robert Kennedy Jr. wrote. “As you may know, I have been a strong advocate for the release of Mr. Sirhan B. Sirhan since I learned of evidence that was not presented to the court during his trial.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/08/27/sirhan-parole-hearing/

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[oldsoftie]

1. Ridiculous. He should stay till he dies.

[NurseJackie]

37. He's the SAME PERSON as the one is this photo! LET HIM ROT IN PRISON UNTIL HE DIES!!

[greenjar_01]

2. Good

Sane sentences, please.

[NYC Liberal]

3. Life in prison for first-degree murder is perfectly sane.

[former9thward]

39. Sentences have to be reasonably the same to be fair and sane.

He has been in prison for 53 years. Almost all first degree murderers are out in 12-20. The only ones longer are those who have committed violence in prison or have other issues.

[paleotn]

8. His sentence was sane, moral and well deserved.

[musette_sf]

13. This POS and Chapman

need to stay locked up for the rest of their pathetic lives.

[mobeau69]

4. Fuck him.

[Corgigal]

31. Put me down for this please.

How different our country could have been , for this one jackass act.

[mobeau69]

32. I cry about it from time to time still.

[Corgigal]

33. I remember it as a child,

was the first time I cried from a TV event. I was a little thing, I just remember the kitchen help raising his head and his arm out. Found out later he asked, if everyone was alright?
Of course he did, and he’s gone and we still have Trump. Life isn’t fair.

[gopiscrap]

38. wow me too for the crying part

I keep thinking of what might have been had RFK been president

[iemanja]

5. I can't believe it

[AngryOldDem]

7. I can.

The state’s rationale is, it’s saving a ton of money by not having to take care of the man in his old age.

I read that in a story earlier in the week, and thought it outrageous that $$$$$ is more important than the crime he committed.

[former9thward]

40. Well they will have to take care of him in old age.

Just not the prison line item in the budget.

[paleotn]

6. No. Absolutely not.

[Owl]

9. Disappointing

[musette_sf]

10. Let him rot.

If Ethel were still alive, I think she'd be all Yoko Ono on his ass. Yoko makes sure Chapman stays locked up, and I'd bet Ethel would do the same were she here.

On edit: I didn't check, and I thought Ethel had passed. I suppose Douglas is speaking for the family, then? I hope not, but that may be the case.

[AngryOldDem]

12. I think Ethel is still with us. In her 90s.

[musette_sf]

18. Yeah, I just checked, thank you for reminding me.

I hope Douglas isn't speaking for her, but he very well may be. He may be able to forgive, but I can't.

[dflprincess]

17. Ethel is still alive. Shes 93

And, at least as of the 50th anniversary of RFK's murder, still wears her wedding ring.

[musette_sf]

20. Thank you for making me aware, I thought she had passed.

Is Douglas speaking for the family, then? I hope not, but it's possible.

[mountain grammy]

56. I don't know anything, just guessing that they wouldn't go against their mother on this

so I believe she was ok. She's lived more than half her life without her husband, raised 11 children and she's still kicking.

It's my belief she's forgiven and if it's good for her it's good for me.

[IronLionZion]

19. Ethel Kennedy is very much alive and 93

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Kennedy

[musette_sf]

21. Thanks, I thought she had passed.

I hope Douglas isn't speaking for the family, but it seems like that is the case. How disappointing.

[AngryOldDem]

11. Possible dumb question, but I've asked them before...

Can he be deported? Wikipedia says he is not a naturalized citizen. Has Jordanian citizenship.

He should not be walking around scot-free. I don’t give a damn if he’s as old as dirt and supposedly harmless. He killed a good man and changed the course of history. Fuck him.

[yaesu]

14. Compared to the1/6 terrorists he does seem pretty tame but he should spend the rest of his life

in the clink.

[OnlinePoker]

15. Disgusting.

Life without parole should be just that.

[left-of-center2012]

16. "Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sent a letter to the parole board on Friday in support of Sirhan ..."

Plus:

... (RFK's) son Douglas H. Kennedy speaking in favor of Sirhan’s parole.
“I really do believe any prisoner who is found to be not a threat to themselves or the world should be released.
I believe that applies to everyone, every human being, including Mr. Sirhan"

[regnaD kciN]

27. RFK, Jr. is a well-known conspiracy nut-job...

I seem to also recall he’s an avid anti-vaxxer.

[left-of-center2012]

29. OMG ! OMG ! OMG !

How does that apply to this thread ?

[Jetheels]

49. Maybe since RFK Jr. is spreading dangerous anti-vaccine propaganda,

believes Fauci is profiting from the vaccines, so just maybe
he might not be the best person to listen to regarding the release of Sirhan.

[left-of-center2012]

50. Apples and oranges. n/t

[LenaBaby61]

62. Thank you 👆🏻

[radical noodle]

55. Well, apparently RFK, Jr

believes some conspiracy theory that Sirhan didn't kill his father.

https://www.boston.com/news/history/2018/05/31/rfk-assassination-conspiracy-theory-second-shooter/

[iemanja]

71. Because RFK jr

is certifiable.

[oldsoftie]

78. Its applies because when you're a known whacko, your opinion no longer matters

[LenaBaby61]

61. RFK, Jr. is a well-known conspiracy nut-job...

He's been a horrible person for almost all of his adult life from all I've read about him. Allegedly sexually assaulting women in his teens, a philandering husband, and now he's pushing anti-vaxxing messages. He sees what anti-vaxxers are doing to this country/world, and I'm sure he sees the death and destruction DeathSentence and all RED state governors are doing in murdering people, young and old. Yet he speaks out against being vaccinated and pretty much poo poos Covid-19. This fool is behind a lawsuit vs Rutgers university which has a policy of wanting their students vaccinated by the upcoming fall semester. But Kennedy says that forcing the Rutgers university students to vaccinate is “an affront to human dignity and personal freedom.” I say fuck him.

What a disgusting, filthy, piece of shit he is and has always been apparently.

[Jetheels]

67. Thank goodness there's 6 other Kennedy children that are opposed to the parole.

[LenaBaby61]

70. Thank goodness there's 6 other Kennedy children that are opposed to the parole.

This 👆🏻

[Jimvanhise]

22. NEW EVIDENCE?

This case was famous because it was a rare instance where the crime was caught on camera and in front of multiple witnesses who tackled him while he had the gun in his hand. If they do make the mistake of releasing him, I expect that someone will do to him what he did to Bobby Kennedy. That's an obvious prediction.

[LenaBaby61]

64. "The crime was caught on camera and in front of multiple witnesses."

One of my college professors was there that night at the Ambassador Hotel here in Los Angeles, and not very far from where the shots rang out where Bobby Kennedy was murdered, and it was that piece of dung Sirhan Sirhan who did the shooting and who was quickly tackled by Rosey Grier who he told me was a Kennedy body guard.

And, even though I was 7 years old when the shooting took place, I can remember my late Mom waking me up and getting me out of bed late in the night, holding me in her lap and crying so hard when the news was reported on the radio that Robert Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador. My late father was working at General Motors in it's South Gate plant, and he and his friend from the plant were working late that night on the friends car in the friends garage, and they had the radio on when the news flashed on the radio and he came directly home also crying like hell. I was in and out of sleep on our front couch when he was pronounced dead at a really late time, and as I remember, my parents were hugging and crying their hears out. And as a 7 year old, I vividly remember the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. earlier that same year in the spring one horrible April afternoon. We were in class nearing the time for us to come home, and all of a sudden we heard the Nuns shrieking, wailing, screaming--some on their knees on the ground as we watched from the upstairs school room window, and us kids KNEW something was wrong. Boy was it ever. We were held in school until all of our parents came and picked us up. ALL of the parents were also wailing, screaming and crying. My late older brother had a horrible time trying to drive us home, because he was crying and breathing so hard. He had to pull over in the parking lot of a Thriftimart Grocery store to compose himself before he could drive again. What a horrible year 1968 was 😑

[Mysterian]

23. FUCK THAT SHIT!

Murdering fucker changed the course of the entire nation.

[Unwind Your Mind]

45. I was mulling that over earlier

Imagine if Bobby had been elected in ‘68. Everything would have been different.

[Devil Child]

24. Keeping fingers Gov. Newsom does the proper thing and reverse this decision.

Let Sirhan Sirhan exit prison on a gurney.

[ripcord]

44. This will affect the recall

If Newsom grants parole or even if this is still hanging over him it will hurt his chances in the recall.

[Jetheels]

52. Maybe that's the intention of RFK Jr. promoting the parole.

[petronius]

69. The article says it will be reviewed by the full board for 90 days before it goes to Newsom, so the

recall should be over and done before this reaches the governor's office. Unless the board really expedites its review, I suppose...

[FBaggins]

79. Probably doesn't help much

He’ll surely be asked about it.

[hadEnuf]

48. He'd better change it or the GOP will tie this right around his neck.

Not that the GOP gives a shit about what happened to RFK but it will be a new way to stir outrage for the recall bullshit.

[area51]

25. Anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. wants Sirhan released? n/t

[rollin74]

26. Yet Leslie Van Houten is still locked up?

[Jetheels]

51. I don't see how Governor Newsom can approve the Sirhan parole when

he denied Van Houten. They don't seem to have that different risk profiles.
Although I don’t see any LaBianca family coming to her rescue like in the Sirhan case, where the child (RFK Jr.) of the murdered person (RFK) thinks Sirhan is okay to be released.

[janterry]

93. I want her to be let out

fwiw - I would vote for her to be released

[H2O Man]

28. Recommended.

This is a good thing. I say that as someone who loved RFK.

[mountain grammy]

57. Looks like the family agrees.

no statement from Ethel, but don't think the children would do this if she was against it.

If the family is ok so am I.

[H2O Man]

59. Right.

I think that everyone with siblings recognizes that there can be a variety of opinions in a family, but I do not believe any of them are opposed.

[Jetheels]

63. Completely wrong.

Six of Kennedy’s nine surviving children are in shock by the vote to parole Sirhan.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/8/27/22645186/robert-f-kennedys-assasin-wins-parole-support-of-2-kennedys-sirhan

[Jetheels]

68. The family is not ok.

The other six children are in shock that at the parole.

[Devil Child]

83. How is paroling a formerly death-sentenced terrorist a good thing?

Struggling to find any good in letting Sirhan Sirhan experience a second of freedom.

[left-of-center2012]

30. 53 years is long enough n/t

[Mr. Evil]

34. I don't give a shit what anyone says.

Keep this Nixon tool in prison! Fuck him!

Everyone here can only imagine what kind of country we would have had, had Robert Kennedy been elected president. And he would've won too.

Parole for this human shitstain? No. And hell no!

[Joinfortmill]

35. Unbelievable. Nope, nope, nope.

[NurseJackie]

36. So "threat to society" is the standard? Ridiculous! His punishment should last his entire lifetime!

That's why I hate the "death penalty" so much. Once someone is dead, they're no longer being punished. Dead people don't really care that they're dead... why? Because they're DEAD!!

Someone who spends 30 years in prison before being released has a much harder sentence than someone who is ONLY in prison for 10 years before being executed.

[quakerboy]

53. Is our system about punishment or rehabilitation?

I mean, practically speaking it seems to be pretty punishing, but I thought the point was supposed to be the combination of public safety and rehabilitation.

[NurseJackie]

75. Well, I guess that all depends on the crime, doesn't it? For this crime: punishment.

[PutGramaOnThePhone]

95. ????

Come on. You’re posting on a liberal web site. Is it punishment, or rehabilitation and pubic safety? If it depends, who decides, Judges, parole boards, and elected officials, or mobs?

I was around in ‘68, and I believe this crime is as tragic as any crime ever.

[NurseJackie]

96. Oh, please. Spare me.

[quakerboy]

101. I guess i misunderstood

My understanding was that the goal in all cases was rehabilitation whenever and however much possible, and that it was the Reps who were working to make it into a punishment above all else type system in spite of the goal set by our society.

[Mr.Bill]

41. That's a much better headline than the ones

that say he'e been granted parole. The whole parole board still has to review it and the governor can over-rule it.

This is not going to happen.

[TygrBright]

42. No. Die in prison. n/t

[Bucky]

43. He robbed a whole nation of a political choice

He needs to do something besides to get his shit together to earn a parole. He has to do something besides say "I'm sorry"

[hadEnuf]

46. Anyone think the Republicans will let John Hinkley Jr. out?

Then why is this bastard being allowed to walk?

[BigmanPigman]

47. Maybe Newsom won't sign off on him.

When a Manson Family murderer and an accomplice asked for parole the gov said they weren't rehabilitated enough to be released to society.

[Dawson Leery]

54. NO!

[ellie]

58. Fuck this asshole

Let him die in prison.

[SunSeeker]

60. He is still an emotionally unstable nutjob.

When asked about how he feels about the Middle East conflict today, Sirhan broke down crying and temporarily couldn’t speak.

I hope Newsom overrules the Parole Board.

[jstephenj]

65. Does Newsom have the power to rescind the parole board's decision on this?

He did so with Leslie Van Houten. Can he do so with Sirhan Sirhan, and if so, when? I can't see any upside for Newsom in granting this guy parole and it's an albatross around his neck so long as it remains in the headlines.

[Rhiannon12866]

66. Yes, he does.

[Larissa]

72. Witness to an assassination

On November 15th, 2017, Chris Matthews interviewed Vincent DiPierro, who was near Bobby Kennedy when he was shot and mortally wounded. DiPierro remembered that in the chaos that ensued immediately after Robert Kennedy had been shot, Kennedy asked if everybody was okay.

https://www.nbcnews.com/video/vincent-dipierro-when-shot-he-asked-if-everyone-was-alright-1096943171625

[Larissa]

73. Robert Kennedy Funeral Train 1968

[mahina]

94. Thank you

💧
He would have made us better. He did make us better while he could.

Tears fir the country we should have become.

[Cheezoholic]

74. Whatever

[The Jungle 1]

76. Rehabilitation?

That is the bar for release? I thought our justice system gave convicted felons punishment.

[twodogsbarking]

77. Robert Kennedy Jr.

Need I say more.

[Paladin]

80. Fuck this shit. (nt)

[wnylib]

81. What are the chances that, if he is released,

somebody will kill him?

I am NOT advocating that, but I am thinking that some angry person might do it. There are still such hard feelings about him that I think it is possible.

[LudwigPastorius]

92. I'd say the chances are good.

Somebody inside tried to kill him back in 2019.

Even considering that attack, he's probably safer there than if he's released.

[Jose Garcia]

82. Six of Kennedy's children have signed a a letter opposing this

Link to tweet

?s=19

[nwliberalkiwi]

84. Newsome

This could put Newsom on the hot seat during the recall. His best bet is to deny the parole.

[Bayard]

85. No, no, and NO!

And....umm....NO!

Its not about him being a model citizen for the rest of his pathetic life, its about what he did THEN. Along with the harm he did to the Kennedy family, and the nation. The world could have been very different...

In the words of Joe Biden--We will not forgive. We will not forget.
In the words of The Dixie Chicks--I'm not ready to make nice.

[LiberalLovinLug]

86. And yet Leonard Pelteir still rots in prison

Over 45 years now. Put away on very dubious evidence, where the defence was not even allowed to properly present their own.
He's obviously a political prisoner put there, and kept in there, as a living example for others in the native community to not get any ideas.

[janterry]

88. I wish they would free him, too

I'm not convinced of his innocence. But enough is enough. He served his time (imo). He should be free.

[burrowowl]

99. I wished Obama had pardoned or granted clemency

but he didn't to my great disappointment.

[Polybius]

90. I was hoping Trump would release him

Reason being, it would piss off the FBI to no ends, and the FBI and Trump didn't like each other at all.

[left-of-center2012]

87. Nine Things You Probably Didn't Know About Parole

1. Life sentences don’t necessarily mean life.
Unless they're sentenced to life without parole, people serving life sentences are eligible for parole eventually.

The minimum date by which they can go before the parole board varies by state:
in some states it's as little as 15 years; in other states it's as many as 50.

(Sirhan Sirhan has been in for 53 years)

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/07/10/nine-things-you-probably-didn-t-know-about-parole

[LudwigPastorius]

89. This guy got his lucky break/shot of mercy when California did away with the death penalty.

Allowing a political assassin who is serving life to walk is just asking for negative societal consequences down the road.

[Lokilooney]

91. I'm fine with it

So many like to bemoan the US's prison industrial complex and the percentage of our population in prison compared the the rest of the world and yet support it. The fact of the matter is that it's not all about drug related offences, sentencing across the board is wildly disproportionate compared to the rest of modern western civilization.

[nvme]

97. Mercy

53 years is long enough.

[Shoonra]

100. The next chapter ...

Sirhan's parole officer will, literally, not have been born when he committed his crime.

Odds are something will go wrong with his parole.

Maybe some outraged citizen will kill him.
Maybe the Palestinians will spirit him out of the country and he will pop up in Gaza as a national hero.