Former lieutenant governor of Maryland Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has joined her oldest brother Robert F Kennedy, Jr, in calling for a new investigation into the 1968 assassination of their father, Robert F. Kennedy (pictured)
Former lieutenant governor of Maryland Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has joined her oldest brother Robert F Kennedy, Jr, in calling for a new investigation into their father’s 1968 assassination.
After personally reviewing evidence and visiting the convicted killer in prison in California, Kennedy, Jr has argued that Sirhan Sirhan’s conviction put the wrong man behind bars for killing Robert F. Kennedy who died on June 6, 1958.
‘My father was the chief law enforcement officer in this country,’ Kennedy, Jr told The Washington Post. ‘I think it would have disturbed him if somebody was put in jail for a crime they didn’t commit.’
Previously silent on the issue, Townsend has now agreed with her brother, telling the Boston Globe in an email on Thursday, ‘I think Bobby makes a compelling case.’
But not all of the nine other children of Robert F. Kennedy, who was known as Bobby Kennedy, agree with their oldest brother, and now their sister.
Two of the children of the late presidential candidate, former attorney general, and senator from New York stand against the idea of reopening an investigation into his death.
Robert F Kennedy, Jr (left) believes that Sirhan Sirhan was not the man who killed his father, and sister Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (right) thinks he ‘makes a compelling case’
Joseph P. Kennedy II, the former congressman from Massachusetts, said in a statement:
‘As we approach the 50th anniversary of my father’s passing, I think what is most important is that our country and my family reflect on what my father stood for and fought for — a legacy promoting global peace, social justice, and civil rights.’
Kerry Kennedy, who is the seventh child of Bobby and Ethyl Kennedy and president of the Robert F Kennedy Center For Justice and Human Rights (which her mother founded), also appears to be against a fresh look at her father’s assassination.
‘The reason that people are interested in the circumstances of my father’s death is because of what he did with his life,’ she said. ‘And I think we should focus on his life and not so much on his death — his moral imagination, his capacity for empathy, his quest to heal divisions, and his belief that one person can make a difference.’
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr has argued that the conviction of Sirhan Sirhan (pictured) put the wrong man behind bars for killing Robert F. Kennedy
Democratic Party politician and Senator from New York, Robert F Kennedy (1925-1968) begins his campaign for the Presidency at the Overseas Press Club in New York on April 1, 1968
One person who is trying to make a difference, at least in terms of who is held responsible for Bobby Kennedy’s death, is Paul Schrade.
Schrade, now 93 years old, is a former United Auto Workers official who was with Bobby Kennedy when the candidate was shot on June 5, 1968, and was also wounded, himself.
Schrade, Bobby Kennedy and a group of people were walking through the pantry at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on the way to a news conference when the attack happened.
This was at a time when Secret Service security was not provided to presidential candidates. Two months prior to his death, civil rights leader the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr was killed in Memphis.
Schrade has been leading the charge since 1974 in arguing for the investigation to be reopened, based on his belief that Sirhan could not have shot the late Kennedy.
‘Yes, he did shoot me. Yes, he shot four other people and aimed at Kennedy,’ Schrade told the Post. ‘The important thing is he did not shoot Robert Kennedy.’
Robert and Ethel Kennedy are seen here with two of their children on June 25, 1957
Sirhan became Convict No. B21014 at San Quentin Prison on May 23, 1969
Sirhan was apprehended at the scene that night, just hours after the presidential candidate had won the Democratic primary in California. He had a .22-caliber revolver that held eight bullets in his hand, and multiple pieces of evidence have been revealed to show he was tackled in front of Bobby Kennedy after firing two or three rounds.
Bobby Kennedy died the following day on June 6, 1968. Ethel was pregnant with their youngest child, Rory Kennedy, at the time.
But the autopsy showed the candidate was shot from behind, with evidence that indicated he was hit at close range. Schrade has also pointed to audio recordings of the incident that indicated that 13 shots were fired.
‘Why didn’t they go after the second gunman?’ Schrade asked, in his interview with the Post. ‘They knew about him right away. They didn’t want to know who it was. They wanted a quickie.’
No other gunman was ever apprehended and the investigation was closed with Sirhan’s conviction in 1969. He was first sentenced to death but that was commuted to a life sentence in 1972.
Sirhan is now 74, incarcerated in state prison in San Diego, and has lost all of his legal appeals and 15 bids for parole, the most rejection having coming in 2016.
Despite having pleaded guilty to the murder of Bobby Kennedy, Sirhan has consistently maintained he did not remember shooting him.
It’s also been suggested he may have been subjected to coercive hynotism after his arrest.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Police Department declined to be interviewed.
Both entities consider the assassination of Bobby Kennedy to be a closed case.
His assassination occurred just over four and a half years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
Jacqueline Kennedy, Edward Kennedy and Robert Kennedy stand as the coffin of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy passes them in 1963