Editing Sirhan B. Sirhan
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{{Villain_Infobox | {{Villain_Infobox | ||
|image = | |image = [[File:Sirhan_Sirhan_2.jpg|thumb|360px]] | ||
|fullname = Sirhan Bishara Sirhan | |fullname = Sirhan Bishara Sirhan | ||
|alias = | |alias = | ||
|origin = Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine | |origin = Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine | ||
|occupation = Stable boy (former) | |occupation = Stable boy (former) | ||
|type of villain = | |type of villain = Assassin | ||
|goals = Kill Robert F. Kennedy as revenge for supporting Israel ( | |goals = Kill Robert F. Kennedy as revenge for supporting Israel (successful) | ||
|crimes = [[Murder]] | |||
'''Sirhan Bishara Sirhan''' (born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian with Jordanian citizenship who assassinated United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on June 5, 1968; Kennedy died the following day at Good Samaritan Hospital. Sirhan was convicted of [[murder]] and | |hobby = }}'''Sirhan Bishara Sirhan''' (born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian with Jordanian citizenship who assassinated United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on June 5, 1968; Kennedy died the following day at Good Samaritan Hospital. Sirhan was convicted of [[murder]] and is serving a life sentence at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County, California. | ||
Sirhan was born in Jerusalem an Arab Christian, and he attended a Lutheran school. In 1989, he told David Frost, "My only connection with Robert Kennedy was his sole support of Israel and his deliberate attempt to send those 50 [fighter jet] bombers to Israel to obviously do harm to the Palestinians." Some scholars believe that the assassination was the first major incident of political violence in the United States stemming from the Arab–Israeli conflict in the Middle East. | Sirhan was born in Jerusalem an Arab Christian, and he attended a Lutheran school. In 1989, he told David Frost, "My only connection with Robert Kennedy was his sole support of Israel and his deliberate attempt to send those 50 [fighter jet] bombers to Israel to obviously do harm to the Palestinians." Some scholars believe that the assassination was the first major incident of political violence in the United States stemming from the Arab–Israeli conflict in the Middle East. | ||
==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
===Early life=== | ===Early life=== | ||
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In a 2018 interview with ''The Washington Post'', Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that he traveled to the Richard J. Donovan correctional facility in California to meet with Sirhan, and that after a relatively lengthy conversation (the details of which he would not disclose), believed that Sirhan did not kill his father and that a second gunman was involved. | In a 2018 interview with ''The Washington Post'', Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that he traveled to the Richard J. Donovan correctional facility in California to meet with Sirhan, and that after a relatively lengthy conversation (the details of which he would not disclose), believed that Sirhan did not kill his father and that a second gunman was involved. | ||
====Motive==== | ====Motive==== | ||
A motive cited for Sirhan's actions is the Middle East conflict. After his arrest, Sirhan said, "I can explain it. I did it for my country." Sirhan believed that he was deliberately betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel in the June 1967 [[Six-Day War]], which had begun one year to the day before the assassination. | A motive cited for Sirhan's actions is the Middle East conflict. After his arrest, Sirhan said, "I can explain it. I did it for my country." Sirhan believed that he was deliberately betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel in the June 1967 [[Six-Day War]], which had begun one year to the day before the assassination. | ||
During a search of Sirhan's apartment after his arrest, a spiral-bound notebook was found containing a diary entry that demonstrated that his anger had gradually fixated on Kennedy, who had promised to send 50 fighter jets to Israel if elected president. Sirhan's journal entry of May 18, 1968, read: "My determination to eliminate R.F.K. is becoming the more and more of an unshakable obsession...Kennedy must die before June 5th." They found other notebooks and diary entries expressing his growing rage at Kennedy; his journals also contained many nonsensical scribbles that were thought to be his version of "free writing". | During a search of Sirhan's apartment after his arrest, a spiral-bound notebook was found containing a diary entry that demonstrated that his anger had gradually fixated on Kennedy, who had promised to send 50 fighter jets to Israel if elected president. Sirhan's journal entry of May 18, 1968, read: "My determination to eliminate R.F.K. is becoming the more and more of an unshakable obsession...Kennedy must die before June 5th." They found other notebooks and diary entries expressing his growing rage at Kennedy; his journals also contained many nonsensical scribbles that were thought to be his version of "free writing". | ||
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Later in prison, Sirhan claimed that he was drunk. An interview with Sirhan in 1980 revealed new claims that a combination of liquor and anger over the anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war triggered his actions. "You must remember the circumstances of that night, June 5. That was when I was provoked," Sirhan says, recorded in a transcript of one of his interviews with Mehdi, later president of the New York-based American-Arab Relations Committee. "That is when I initially went to observe the Jewish Zionist parade in celebration of the June 5, 1967, victory over the Arabs. That was the catalyst that triggered me on that night." Then Sirhan said, "In addition, there was the consumption of the liquor, and I want the public to understand that." | Later in prison, Sirhan claimed that he was drunk. An interview with Sirhan in 1980 revealed new claims that a combination of liquor and anger over the anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war triggered his actions. "You must remember the circumstances of that night, June 5. That was when I was provoked," Sirhan says, recorded in a transcript of one of his interviews with Mehdi, later president of the New York-based American-Arab Relations Committee. "That is when I initially went to observe the Jewish Zionist parade in celebration of the June 5, 1967, victory over the Arabs. That was the catalyst that triggered me on that night." Then Sirhan said, "In addition, there was the consumption of the liquor, and I want the public to understand that." | ||
=== | ===Aftermath=== | ||
Despite the fact that Sirhan admitted his guilt in a recorded confession while in police custody on June 9, a lengthy, publicized trial followed in ''The People of the State of California v. Sirhan Sirhan''. The judge did not accept his confession and denied his request to withdraw his plea of "not guilty" in order to plead "guilty". | Despite the fact that Sirhan admitted his guilt in a recorded confession while in police custody on June 9, a lengthy, publicized trial followed in ''The People of the State of California v. Sirhan Sirhan''. The judge did not accept his confession and denied his request to withdraw his plea of "not guilty" in order to plead "guilty". | ||
Sirhan was convicted on April 17, 1969, and was sentenced six days later to death in the gas chamber. Three years later, his sentence was commuted to life in prison, owing to the California Supreme Court's decision in ''The People of the State of California vs. Robert Page Anderson'', which ruled that capital punishment is a violation of the California Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The February 1972 decision was retroactive, invalidating all existing death sentences in California | [[File:Sirhan_parole_2011.jpg|thumb|left|263px|Sirhan at a parole hearing in 2011.]] Sirhan was convicted on April 17, 1969, and was sentenced six days later to death in the gas chamber. Three years later, his sentence was commuted to life in prison, owing to the California Supreme Court's decision in ''The People of the State of California vs. Robert Page Anderson'', which ruled that capital punishment is a violation of the California Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The February 1972 decision was retroactive, invalidating all existing death sentences in California. | ||
A parole hearing has been scheduled for Sirhan every five years. He has been denied parole each time thus far on the grounds that he has never fully expressed remorse for his crime. His most recent hearing took place on February 10, 2016. If he is still alive, Sirhan's next parole hearing will be in 2021, when he is 80 years old. | |||
[[Category:List]] | [[Category:List]] | ||
[[Category:Male]] | [[Category:Male]] | ||
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[[Category:Cold war villains]] | [[Category:Cold war villains]] | ||
[[Category:Middle Eastern Villains]] | [[Category:Middle Eastern Villains]] | ||
[[Category:Anti- | [[Category:Anti-Semetic]] | ||
[[Category:Anti - Villain]] | [[Category:Anti - Villain]] | ||
[[Category:Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Villains]] | [[Category:Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Villains]] | ||
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[[Category:From Nobody to Nightmare]] | [[Category:From Nobody to Nightmare]] | ||
[[Category:Political]] | [[Category:Political]] | ||