On this day, April 17, in 1969, Palestinian immigrant Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
At about 12:15 a.m. on June 5, 1968, after winning the California primary, Democratic presidential candidate Kennedy was leaving a rally through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when Sirhan shot him three times at close range.
Sirhan, then 24, was subdued by football player Rosey Grier, George Plimpton, Pete Hamill and Olympic gold medalist Rafer Johnson. After the assassination, the Secret Service offered protection of presidential candidates.
Kennedy was buried near his brother, President John F. Kennedy, in Arlington National Cemetery. The burial was the only one to ever take place at night.
After a trial lasting nearly four months, Sirhan was convicted and sentenced to death. Sirhan, who emigrated from Jerusalem as a child, reportedly was angry over Kennedy’s pro-Israel position.
That sentence was commuted to life in prison, and Sirhan has been in a California prison ever since.
