John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States, was shot on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California, by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian immigrant. Kennedy died the next day at the age of 42.

Sirhan was arrested and charged with murder, and his trial began in March 1969. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison when California abolished the death penalty in 1972.

The investigation into Kennedy's assassination was led by the Los Angeles Police Department, with assistance from the FBI. The police found that Sirhan had been planning the shooting for several weeks and had obtained a gun specifically for the purpose of killing Kennedy.

Sirhan's defense team argued that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, citing evidence of his mental instability and history of violent behavior. However, this argument was rejected by the court.

The trial was highly publicized and attracted national attention. Sirhan was imprisoned at the California State Prison in San Quentin, where he died on April 24, 2023, at the age of 75, after serving over 54 years in prison.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy led to significant changes in the way that presidential candidates are protected while campaigning. It also led to increased security measures at public events and a greater awareness of the potential for violence at such gatherings.

Sirhan Sirhan was granted a two-week continuance to enter a plea on June 5, 1968, but his family had been under police protection since Senator Kennedy's fatal shooting. The investigation into Senator Kennedy's assassination continued with a hand-picked team of policemen and prosecutors leading the effort.

Jeane Dixon, a psychic, predicted that Robert F. Kennedy would be assassinated before his presidential campaign began, and also predicted other events such as the Pueblo incident in Korea.

Sirhan had been seen practicing with a pistol at a gun range before the shooting, and witnesses testified that he fired his gun precisely when he shot Kennedy. He was involved in a violent incident in 1966, in which he stabbed a man with a knife.

The Los Angeles Police Department formed a special task force to investigate the assassination, which included investigators from the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department.

RFK Declassified Files

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