As the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy approaches, conspiracy theories still abound.
The latest to add his voice to those who believe there was a second gunman is the senator’s son Robert F. Kennedy Jnr.
Sirhan B. Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian immigrant, was arrested and later convicted of the shooting at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles soon after midnight June 5, 1968. Kennedy, a presidential candidate at the time and former US attorney general, was killed moments after celebrating his victory in California’s Democratic primary.
This February 23, 1961 photo obtained from the National Archives, shows then US President John F. Kennedy (left), FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the Oval Office at the White House. Photo: Agence France-Presse
Advertisement
Although Sirhan was captured at the scene with a .22-calibre handgun in his hand and later admitted that he shot Kennedy, new evidence has emerged over the years that suggests there may have been as many as 13 shots fired that night. Sirhan’s gun held only eight bullets. There has also been disagreement among experts over the years about whether some of the recovered bullets were fired from the same gun.
In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Kennedy’s son said that he has conducted his own detailed research into the assassination and now believes there was a second gunman. He is calling for a new investigation. He also revealed for the first time that he visited Sirhan last December at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.
Sirhan Sirhan reacts during a parole hearing on February 10, 2016, at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. Photo: AP
Advertisement
Evidence photographs of the gun used in the assassination plot to kill Robert F. Kennedy are displayed at Paul Schrade's Los Angeles home. Photo: The Washington Post
“I got to a place where I had to see Sirhan,” Kennedy told The Washington Post. “I went there because I was curious and disturbed by what I had seen in the evidence.”
Kennedy, who was 14 when his father died, did not disclose what he and Sirhan talked about. But after their three-hour conservation, he concluded that there was a second gunman at the hotel the night of the shooting.
