Former Senator Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles following a speech celebrating his triumph in California’s presidential primary. He succumbed to injuries on June 6. His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was found guilty of first-degree murder and is serving life in prison. He acknowledged to “obsession” of killing RFK, revealed 10,000-pages of records released by the Trump administration on Friday related to the Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. 

Many of the files had been made official earlier, while others had not been digitised and placed for decades in federal government storage facilities. Their release continued the revelation of historical investigation documents directed by Trump in January. The US National Archives and Records Administration posted approximately 229 files containing the pages on its website.

What do Robert F. Kennedy files reveal?

The RFK files contained pictures of handwritten notes by Sirhan, the gunman, who stated the Democratic presidential candidate “must be disposed of” and admitting an obsession with killing him.

According to the report, a search of Sirhan’s bedroom in Pasadena disclosed several handwritten notes, comprising one written on May 18, 1968. “My determination to remove RFK is becoming more the more of an unshakeable obsession. RFK must be disposed of like his brother was,” one note mentioned in the file read. This note indicated to Kennedy’s older brother, former US President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.

Sirhan told his garbage collector that he planned to kill Kennedy following the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination on April 4, 1968. The sanitation worker, a Black man, stated he planned to vote for Kennedy because he would assist Black people. “Well, I don’t agree. I am planning on shooting the son of a bitch,” Sirhan responded, the man informed investigators.

Tulsi Gabbard on RFK files

According to AP, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stated that the RFK files’ release will “shine a long-overdue light on the truth”. “Nearly 60 years after the tragic assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the American people will, for the first time, have the opportunity to review the federal government’s investigation thanks to the leadership of President Trump,” Gabbard said.

(With inputs from agencies)