Some sanity from my governor.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/13/us/sirhan-sirhan-newsom-denies-parole/index.htmlCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom denies parole for RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has denied parole for Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a source told CNN's Jake Tapper.
Sirhan was recommended for parole in August, after spending 53 years in prison for the 1968 killing. Two of Kennedy's sons, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Douglas Kennedy, supported the release during Sirhan's 16th appearance before the California Parole Board. But other family members felt he should remain imprisoned.
A month later, Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, said in a statement that Sirhan "should not have the opportunity to terrorize again."
"He should not be paroled," she said in the September statement.
Through the review process, Newsom noted his penchant for Kennedy, telling reporters he keeps a framed photo of the former senator at the entrance of his office.
Newsom decided to reverse the parole board's decision after determining that Sirhan "currently poses an unreasonable threat to public safety," a statement from the governor's office said.
"The Governor reached his decision based on several factors, including Mr. Sirhan's refusal to accept responsibility for his crime, lack of insight and accountability required to support his safe release, failure to disclaim violence committed in his name, and failure to mitigate his risk factors," the statement said.
In a Los Angeles Times Op-Ed explaining his decision, Newsom wrote that Sirhan had recorded his plans to kill Kennedy prior to the assassination and that decades after the killing, "Sirhan began dodging responsibility" and also recently dismissed the "relevance of his status as an ideological lightning rod."
Newsom added that Sirhan, now 77, "remains a potent symbol of political violence."
