RFK’s son: Granting parole to his father’s assassin ‘grievous error’ that should be reversed

BOSTON — Former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II has issued a statement opposing the release of Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of killing his father, Robert F. Kennedy, in Los Angeles in 1968.

Kennedy, who currently serves as chairman of Citizens Energy Corporation in Boston, issued the statement after the 77-year-old Sirhan Sirhan was granted parole on Friday with the support of two of Joe Kennedy’s siblings, Douglas Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

While two of RFK’s children support Sirhan’s release, six of his other children, including Joseph P. Kennedy II, strongly oppose it.

“Two commissioners of the 18-member California Parole Board made a grievous error last Friday in recommending the release of the man who murdered my father,” Kennedy II said in a statement Sunday. “I understand that there are differing views about ending the sentence of this killer, including within my own family. But emotions and opinions do not change facts or history.”

“The prisoner killed my father because of his support of Israel. The man was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. Yet he now may walk free, no doubt to the cheers of those who share his views. Let there be no mistake, the prisoner’s release will be celebrated by those who believe that political disagreements can be solved by a gun,” he said.

“I hope the full parole board will reverse the decision over the ongoing review period and that the California governor, if faced with the choice to release him, will keep him in prison to serve out his full life sentence,” Kennedy II said.

“The murderer of anyone who runs for or holds public office because of his political stance must know that he will at a minimum spend life in prison without parole,” he said. “My family understands that most Americans view the murder of my father as an important moment in the history of our country. For those of us who called him Daddy, it is far more than the thousands of times we’ve watched our father get killed on television. Every one of us.”

“The prisoner left a pregnant mother of ten without a husband and soon-to-be 11 children without a father,” he said. “My mother, Ethel Kennedy, and my uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, asked that his death sentence be reduced to life imprisonment as a demonstration of mercy. He received that mercy.”

“No one should have the right to alter the lesser sentence requested by the person most affected by my father’s death – his wife, whose last child would never know a father’s touch. Nothing written, said or done will ever change that reality,” Kennedy II said. “We miss him every moment of every day, and struggle to understand why the prisoner should be able to enjoy the golden years of his life when he so viciously stole them from our father. There is no justice in that.”

While Friday’s parole decision was a major victory for Sirhan, it does not assure his release. California’s governor ultimately will decide that.

This story contains information from The Associated Press.

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