Originally published at: After 53 years in jail, RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan has a good shot at parole | Boing Boing
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1st sentence. Sorry, what?!?
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Guess I can’t really fault his release; if a life sentence comes with the possibility of parole then there has to be a meaningful chance that the convicted person can actually earn their release one day by demonstrating they’ve changed.
I do have to wonder if the fact that he was a Christian Palestinian rather than a Muslim Palestinian had any impact on the board’s decision.
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I don’t know about this. What’s to stop him from killing RFK again?
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I’m pretty sure RFK would have prefered the “humiliation”.
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Hey BoingBoing, rethink that “saving him” take, huh?
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I was in grade school when this transpired. It was terrible to see adults lose their shit, and at the same time learn what assassination was and what it did to the country and the family of the assassinated. Truly horrible.
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Remarkable to see the Kennedy kids supporting parole and compassion. I sometimes have hope for our species. It seldom sticks with me for long but it’s a nice change of pace.
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Last I heard RFK Jr. was convinced that Sirhan Sirhan isn’t really the one who killed his father at all (this does not appear to be a conspiracy theory that Sirhan himself has promoted or ascribes to).
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He’s also an anti-vaxxer.
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RFK Jr. is also an anti-vaxxer, so it seems he’s prone to baseless conspiracy theory.
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Yeah, he’s kind of an all-around conspiracy theorist. I think he’s dabbled in some of the same kinds of “massive conspiracy to steal elections” stuff that was later adopted by the Qanon crowd (albeit for the other side).
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[Sirhan killed] Robert Kennedy in 1968, saving him from a humiliating election defeat by Richard Nixon that would have forever changed American political life
Is this a joke?
Just because Humphrey lost has no bearing on what RFK’s performance would have been.
RFK was wildly popular in 1968. Humphrey was uninspiring and fatally connected to LBJ and the Vietnam War.
What forever changed American political life was the assassination itself and its direct result, Nixon’s election and reelection, instead of a transformative politician like RFK.
Sirhan Sirhan, RFK’s assassin, paroled after 53 years in jail
He’s not paroled. He still has 2 not insignificant hurdles:
The decision to grant parole will first be reviewed by the legal division of the Board of Parole Hearings, a process that can take up to about four months. If the lawyers find an error, they can send the case to the full slate of commissioners to review.
If not, then the case will be sent to the governor, who has 30 days to review it. The governor, who has said that Robert F. Kennedy was his hero, can either approve the recommendation, send it back to the parole board, reverse the recommendation or take no action and let it go into effect.
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I was aware of some of his other peculiarities but didn’t know about this one. There’s that hit of cynicism/realism that’s familiar!
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In his defense I don’t think he ever took his election conspiracy theories to the level that Qanon has and his theories do have some grain of truth (i.e., voter suppression by Republicans has been a very real and ongoing thing). The anti-vax stuff has been really harmful though and it goes back to way before the current Covid pandemic.
The “second gunman” thing suggests his feelings about Sirhan’s release may be more complicated than simply showing human compassion and forgiveness toward his father’s assassin though.
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Are the Qanon nutcases far gone enough to believe he will rid them of this turbulent president?
[Sirhan killed] Robert Kennedy in 1968, saving him from a humiliating election defeat by Richard Nixon that would have forever changed American political life
Is this a joke?
Just because Humphrey lost has no bearing on what RFK’s performance would have been.
RFK was wildly popular in 1968. Humphrey was uninspiring and fatally connected to LBJ and the Vietnam War.What forever changed American political life was the assassination itself and its direct result, Nixon’s election and reelection, instead of a transformative politician like RFK.
Agreed, that part of the summary was both factually unlikely and in very poor taste.
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People aren’t digging your gallows humor, Rob. 
I can relate.
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He’s king of the anti-vaxers. Only Dr Wakefield has done more damage.
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Wow. This is really something. I’m glad that two of RFKs children supported it, even if one of them is RFK jr. anti-vaxxer dude. Here is Douglas Kennedy’s comments to the Guardian about his parole:
“I’m overwhelmed just by being able to view Mr Sirhan face-to-face,” he said. “I think I’ve lived my life both in fear of him and his name in one way or another. And I am grateful today to see him as a human being worthy of compassion and love.”
Wow. From here…
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