The assassin of Robert F. Kennedy’s was granted parole by a California board Friday after two of his sons say they support his release.
Sirhan Sirhan gunned down Kennedy, then a presidential candidate, in 1968 at Los Angeles hotel following a speech.
The parole panel’s decision next faces a review and will require the governor’s approval to be official.
The 77-year-old Sirhan has served 53 years for the first-degree murder of the New York senator and brother of President John F. Kennedy. RFK was a Democratic presidential candidate when he was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after delivering a victory speech in the pivotal California primary.
The board granted his release Friday, in part, after receiving letters of support from two members of the slain senator’s family, including his son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The release also came without opposition from Los Angeles County prosecutors, who are barred from fighting release at parole hearings under a policy enacted by Dist. Atty. George Gascón.
