'Kennedy must fall': CIA releases Sirhan Sirhan diary pages and RFK assassination files

Palestinian who emigrated from Jordan to the US shot and killed Democratic presidential hopeful in 1968

In this July 19, 1968, file photo, RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan leaves the courtroom in Los Angeles. AP

Previously classified documents related to the 1968 murder of presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy and his Palestinian Christian assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, have been released by the CIA.

One of the files details an emergency meeting of the Palestine Arab Delegation in the Arab League offices of New York's Chrysler building following the killing of Mr Kennedy.

Sirhan, a Palestinian who emigrated from Jordan to the US, shot and killed Mr Kennedy on June 6, 1968, after he won the California Democratic presidential primary.

Journal entries by Mr Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan were released by the CIA.

Several investigations by the Los Angeles police and FBI indicated speeches given by Mr Kennedy on the campaign trail in support of Israel prompted Sirhan's motivation.

“Kennedy must fall … Kennedy must fall” reads one of the diary entries written by Sirhan, released in the latest document dump.

Another document, an intelligence report circulated in the CIA, shows that the Palestinian Arab Delegation was closely monitored by the intelligence agency after Sirhan was taken into custody.

At an emergency meeting of the group held during the assassin's trial, Issa Nakhleh, a former senior adviser to the UN Palestinian Delegation, described Sirhan as an “Arab guerrilla” whose murder of Mr Kennedy was “motivated by political events”.

“Nakhleh informed the group that one of his aims in briefing the group was to enlist their support for a trip to the Middle East which he planned to make in order to collect funds to aid Sirhan's defence,” reads the document.

The source for those particular meeting notes appears to be an informant, described by the CIA as a “Middle East national with a leftist political orientation who has good contacts at the UN”.

An emergency meeting of an Arab delegation in New York sought to potentially raise funds for Sirhan Sirhan's legal defence.

It also alleges that Mr Nakhleh had in the past been accused of being a “loose handler” of funds – that he had previously raised money for various causes, but that the funds later “found a way into his pockets”.

Another released document shows that both the CIA and FBI were particularly concerned with how the Soviet Union was portraying Sirhan.

“Soviet media have displayed predictable sensitivity to the fact that the suspect is an Arab immigrant,” reads one of the reports, which also examined how a Soviet journalist's opinion piece critiqued the US reaction to Sirhan.

“Izvestiya Kondrashov accused the US press of 'playing on the Arab origin of the assassin' and on evidence of his 'anti-Israeli attitudes' in order to shift the blame from the American way of life, 'the real guilty party in the tragedy.'”

A report compiled before the assassination, titled “The Arab Nationalists Movement”, was also circulated in the CIA shortly after Mr Kennedy was killed, while investigators were trying to learn about Sirhan's motives.

“In Jordan recently, a new Arab Nationalists Movement commando group has been organised to carry out raids within Israel,” the report reads.

In April of 1969, a jury found Sirhan guilty of assassinating Mr Kennedy.

A CIA report on the Arab Nationalists Movement circulated shortly after Sirhan Sirhan assassinated RFK.

Despite a preponderance of evidence, conspiracy theories have thrived for decades, with some suggesting Sirhan's innocence.

In a previous interview with The National, author Mel Ayton, widely considered to be one of the foremost experts on Sirhan and the assassination, said that all of those theories fall apart under even the most basic examination.

Any documents that remain classified, he explained, are classified for security reasons.

“It wasn't about covering anything up, it was about protecting sources, police sources and potential informants – that's what it all comes down to,” he said.

Sirhan's many attempts to be paroled have so far been unsuccessful. He was briefly granted parole by the California parole board in 2021, only to have the decision vetoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who said the assassination was one of the most notorious crimes in US history.

For the 17th time since being incarcerated in 1969, Sirhan was again denied a parole request in 2023. He will be eligible again in 2027.

The prisoner, 81, has periodically made contradictory comments about his role in the assassination. During some interviews, he claims not to remember the events, while in others, he seems to express remorse.