Sirhan Sirhan

Sirhan Sirhan is a Palestinian-Jordanian man convicted of assassinating U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment after California abolished capital punishment.

Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: The 1968 shooting of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where he died the next day. This is the crime for which Sirhan was convicted.
Palestinian diaspora: The dispersion of Palestinians from their homeland through displacement, migration, and exile. Sirhan’s Palestinian identity and family history shaped how his background was discussed.
Ethel Kennedy: An American human-rights advocate and widow of Robert F. Kennedy, whom she married in 1950. She was present during the aftermath and later opposed Sirhan’s release.
Conspiracy theory: An explanation of events that attributes them to secret coordination by powerful actors, often without adequate evidence. The Kennedy assassination has generated claims of a wider plot that remain distinct from Sirhan’s conviction.
Robert F. Kennedy: An American politician who served as attorney general and U.S. senator before being assassinated during his 1968 presidential campaign. Kennedy was the victim of the attack that made Sirhan’s case nationally consequential.
Arab-Israeli conflict: The political and military conflict involving Israel and Arab states and communities, including Palestinians. Sirhan cited political anger connected to the conflict as a motive.
Paul Schrade: An American labor leader who was wounded in the 1968 shooting that killed Robert F. Kennedy. Schrade was a victim of the attack and later advocated for Sirhan’s parole.
Second-gun theory: The claim that a second gunman fired shots during Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination, contrary to the official account that Sirhan acted alone. It challenges whether the trial record fully accounts for the shots and victims.
Ambassador Hotel: A Los Angeles hotel that hosted Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign event and the shooting that followed. The hotel kitchen pantry was the scene of the shooting.
Six-Day War: The June 1967 war in which Israel fought Egypt, Jordan, and Syria and captured territories including the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The recent war formed part of the political context cited in accounts of Sirhan’s motive.

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