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Sirhan Sirhan Denied Parole By Gov. Newsom
Sirhan Sirhan, charged with the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy during a 1968 campaign stop in California.
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Keystone
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Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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Gov. Gavin Newsom has denied parole for Sirhan Sirhan, the man who assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
A state parole panel last year recommended that Sirhan be released.
Former AP reporter Linda Deutsch — who covered the shooting and the trial — says she's not surprised by Newsom's decision.
"Sirhan really never accepted responsibility, and he still hasn't. In his last parole hearing, he said that he thought it was a terrible crime if, in fact, he did it, which he doesn't know,” Deutsch said.
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Newsom said in a statement that he believes Sirhan "poses a current threat to public safety."
On behalf of the senator's widow, Ethel, six of the couple's children say in a statement they're "grateful" and "deeply relieved" that parole was denied.
Kennedy's youngest son, Douglas, spoke in favor of Sirhan's release at a parole hearing last year. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also expressed support for his parole.
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