Today in History—June 5: Robert F. Kennedy’s Assassination

The Kennedys are basically American political royalty. They’ve been relevant since the first Kennedy to enter politics, P.J., traded whiskey-importing for the Boston political machine about 1900. With a Kennedy still prominent in U.S. politics and JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s whirlwind romance recently reimagined to become the most streamed drama on Disney+, the family remains as interesting as ever.

But their power, fame, and acclaim has come with an almost mythical amount of tragedy, from the plane-related deaths of Joseph (1944), Kathleen (1948), and JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette (1999) to JFK’s assassination (1963).

On this day in 1968 then, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy assumed the family legacy twofold: Moments after his victory speech for the California presidential primary, he was shot.

Kennedy closed out his speech in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at about 12:15 am. About a few minutes earlier, 24-year-old Sirhan Sirhan had slipped past security and into the pantry behind the ballroom. As Kennedy was escorted backstage, Sirhan fired a .22 revolver, hitting Kennedy three times and striking five others.

Later audio analysis from that night noted as many as 13 shots—even though Sirhan’s revolver could only hold eight rounds. There are conspiracy theories aplenty around this, but that’s another rabbit hole entirely.

His entourage subdued Sirhan as a teenage busboy cradled the injured Kennedy. He was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery before dying the following day, June 6.

Sirhan was reported to have said, “I did it for my country”—meaning Palestine and Jordan. The attack came exactly one year after the start of the Six-Day War, which ended with Israel’s capture of the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jerusalem, and Golan Heights.

Sirhan’s journals revealed rage over Kennedy’s support for Israel during and after the war. An entry from May 18, 1968, reads: “Robert F. Kennedy must be assassinated before 5 June 68.”

Sirhan was convicted on April 17, 1969, and remains in prison.