LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California panel on Wednesday rejected the parole of Sirhan Sirhan, the man who fatally shot Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.
The three-member panel denied Sirhan, 78, parole for three years, a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman said.
In August 2021, Sirhan was found suitable for parole by a parole panel, but was rescinded by Governor Gavin Newsom.
“I have determined that Sirhan has not developed the responsibility and knowledge necessary to support his safe release into the community,” Newsom wrote in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times in January 2022.
Sirhan opened fire on Kennedy, a senator representing New York, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, shortly after Kennedy claimed victory in the California Democratic presidential primary.
Sirhan was found guilty of first degree murder and assault with intent to murder. He has been incarcerated in the state system since 1969. A death sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972.
His attorney, Angela Berry, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Berry argued that Sirhan’s psychiatrists have said for decades that he is unlikely to reoffend or be a danger to society. The Associated Press reported.
The Kennedy family said in January 2022 that they were relieved by Newsom’s decision to reverse Sirhan’s parole grant.
A parole grant is when an inmate is determined fit and recommended for parole, but the grants are still subject to review by the law office of the board and the governor.
The Kennedy family said at the time that Sirhan «continues to deflect blame for his crime through 16 parole hearings,» calling the murder one of the most infamous crimes in history.