Will Sirhan Sirhan be deported? Here's where Robert F Kennedy's killer is really from
After 53 years in prison and 15 failed attempts at parole, Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan has finally made a major step forward in his quest to be released. On August 27, a two-person panel recommended that Sirhan be granted parole, after a hearing that involved testimony from Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's surviving sons. There are still several steps before Sirhan can claim to be a free man, but the recommendation is the first time he has won in 16 attempts, indicating that he might walk out of prison.
Sirhan has been in jail since May 1969, after he was convicted in the killing of Robert 'Bobby' Kennedy, who was running for president. The news comes just weeks after controversial comedian Bill Cosby was released from prison, which did not go down well with his victims. Shortly before stepping down as Governor, Andrew Cuomo also sparked fury for deciding to commute the sentence of David Gilbert, a former Weather Underground member who is in jail for a heist of a Brink's armored car in 1981.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom now faces equal fury from some people who believe Sirhan should not be released. Others, including Sen. Kennedy's sons Robert and Douglas, supported Sirhan's release. "I am grateful today to see him as a human being worthy of compassion and love," Douglas Kennedy said at the hearing. With the historic recommendation, all eyes are now on Sirhan, and his possible future should Newsom decide to let him free.
Where will Sirhan go?
Before Sirhan can walk out of jail a free man, there are still a few steps to go. The panel has simply recommended he be granted parole, they are not the ones in charge of actually releasing him. The recommendation will now go to the California Parole Board’s staff, who will have 90 days to review it. If they approve, the recommendation will then head to Newsom's desk. The governor will have 30 days to decide whether or not to release Sirhan.
Newsom can decide either to grant Sirhan parole, reverse it or even modify it, i.e. parole under stricter conditions. He will also have to consider whether the release is "consistent with public safety", a fear that Sirhan himself has denied will have no merit. "I would never put myself in jeopardy again. You have my pledge. I will always look to safety and peace and non-violence," he told the panel. Should Newsom agree with that, only then will Sirhan be a free man, but he won't get to walk away just like that.
There are two possible paths Sirhan will have once he is out of jail. For one, he could live out the rest of his days in Pasadena, where his brother lives. Sirhan's brother Munir is the only remaining relative Sirhan has. Both brothers are unmarried, but despite the effects of Sirhan's crime, his brother feels no animosity. "I just want to hear his footsteps on the porch. I just want to hug him and tell him, 'Welcome home," Munir told The Washington Post in 2018.
Alternatively, he could also be deported back to his home country of Jordan (of which he is a citizen after Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950). Parole Board Commissioner Robert Barton though was concerned this would make Sirhan a "symbol or lightning rod to foment more violence." However, he addressed those concerns and said he was too old to be involved. "The same argument can be said or made that I can be a peacemaker, and a contributor to a friendly nonviolent way of resolving the issue," he added.
It's unclear what route Sirhan will go down, but it all depends on Newsom, who has not just public safety to consider, but also the optics. Fighting a recall election, his decision could be a flashpoint for his challengers. We will only know of Sirhan's fate once the recommendation reaches the governor. Until then, the question of where he will go remains moot. Sirhan isn't going anywhere, not for a few months at least.