From the sane Kennedys

[intheflow]

55. According to WaPo, he is remorseful and has been eligible for release since 1975.

The original case was badly handled and there are valid concerns that he wasn't the one who shot Kennedy, that there were multiple gunmen; the coroner reported at the trial that RFK was shot through the back while multiple witnesses said Sirhan approach from the front.

Excerpts:

“'Over half a century has passed,' Sirhan told the two parole commissioners, 'and that young, impulsive kid I was does not exist anymore. … Senator Kennedy was the hope of the world and I injured, and I harmed all of them, and it pains me to experience that, the knowledge for such a horrible deed.'”

...

"Famed coroner Thomas Noguchi found that Kennedy had been shot three times at point-blank range from the back, with a fourth shot passing through his jacket without striking him, though witnesses said Sirhan was in front of Kennedy. Noguchi determined that the shots were fired from a distance of three inches."

...

"Paul Schrade was one of five people who were wounded in the shooting as they walked behind Kennedy, and Schrade has long believed that Sirhan shot him but did not shoot Kennedy. After the ruling, Schrade said, 'I’m pleased that we’ve done this for Sirhan because he didn’t deserve all of the very bad behavior from the prison system,' meaning repeated parole denials, 'and prosecutors and police. He was innocent and didn’t deserve this for 53 years.'”

...

"Only one journalist, Julie Watson of the Associated Press, was permitted to observe the hearing and distributed an account of what happened. She reported that Commissioner Robert Barton pointed out that Sirhan qualified as a youthful offender for purposes of parole consideration — he was 24 in 1968 — and the board is required to give that 'great weight' under the law. Sirhan also qualified for 'elderly parole' for being 77 and having served more than 20 years."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/08/27/sirhan-parole-hearing/

Our justice system is supposed to be reformative, not punitive. If no one is above the law (i.e., lock up TFG), then no one should be below the law (i.e., people who murder famous people should not be punished more severely than people who murder regular people). Plus, both the prosecution and the defense agreed during the trial that he was mentally ill at the time of the shooting. I usually think MAGA types are authoritarians who think mentally ill people should be locked away for life, but I guess I'm just a naive dreamer.