He was pronounced dead a day later, on June 6, The summer of was a tempestuous time in American history. Both the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement were peaking. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the face of this unrest, President Lyndon B.
Johnson decided not to seek a second term in the upcoming presidential election. Attorney General, stepped into this breach and experienced a groundswell of support. Kennedy was perceived by many to be the only person in American politics capable of uniting the people. He was beloved by the minority community for his integrity and devotion to the civil rights cause. As star athletes Rafer Johnson and Roosevelt Grier accompanied Kennedy out a rear exit of the Ambassador Hotel, Sirhan Sirhan stepped forward with a rolled up campaign poster, hiding his.
He was only a foot away when he fired several shots at Kennedy. Grier and Johnson wrestled Sirhan to the ground, but not before five bystanders were wounded. Grier was distraught afterward and blamed himself for allowing Kennedy to be shot. Sirhan, who was born in Palestine , confessed to the crime at his trial and received a death sentence on March 3, However, since the California State Supreme Court invalidated all death penalty sentences in , Sirhan has spent the rest of his life in prison.
Three years later, however, his sentence was commuted to life in prison when California briefly outlawed capital punishment. A Palestinian with Jordanian citizenship, Sirhan has claimed he has no recollection of shooting Kennedy.
If Robert Kennedy had not been killed Who was Bobby Kennedy? A new Kennedy in the political spotlight. Image source, Getty Images. What if Robert F Kennedy had not been killed? On This Day in - Bobby Kennedy is assassinated. He has acknowledged he was angry at Kennedy for his support of Israel. If released, Sirhan could be deported to Jordan. Sirhan said he was too old to be involved in the Middle East conflict and would detach himself from it.
Paul Schrade, who was wounded in the shooting, also spoke in favor of his release. Sirhan was sentenced to death but that sentence was commuted to life when the California supreme court briefly outlawed capital punishment in At his last parole hearing in , commissioners concluded after more than three hours of intense testimony that Sirhan did not show adequate remorse or understand the enormity of his crime. This article is more than 2 months old.
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