California governor denies parole to Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan

Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan from prison, more than a half-century after the 1968 slaying left a deep wound during one of America's darkest times.Governor Gavin Newsom, who has cited RFK as his "political hero" and embraced the historical significance of his decision, rejected a recommendation from a two-person panel of parole commissioners. But six of Kennedy's nine surviving children and Ethel Kennedy, RFK's wife, urged Newsom to block his parole.The panel's decision was based in part on several new California laws since he was denied parole in 2016 — the 15th time he'd lost his bid for release.Commissioners were required to consider that Sirhan committed his crime at a young age, when he was 24; that he now is elderly; and that the Christian Palestinian who immigrated from Jordan had suffered childhood trauma from the conflict in the Middle East.In addition, Los Angeles County prosecutors didn't object to his parole, following District Attorney George Gascón's policy that prosecutors should not be involved in deciding whether prisoners are ready for release.The decision had a personal element for Newsom, a fellow Democrat, who displays RFK photos in his official and home offices.