RFK Murder: The Motive (Guest: Author Mel Ayton)

56 years ago this month, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down in a kitchen pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

My ongoing investigative series on the RFK assassination continues on Episode 38 of "Strange Bedfellows" with tonight's guest, historian Mel Ayton (author of "Sirhan Sirhan: The Forgotten Terrorist") -- who will tell us what motivated Kennedy's killer.

Researchers have spent the past 56 years bogged down in ballistics and bullet trajectories, all the while overlooking the most important aspect of the crime: motive.

We are all guilty of focusing too much on the HOW, and not enough on the WHY.

So, why did he do it? Sirhan told us why. Many times.

Minutes after shooting Sen. Kennedy, Sirhan told arresting officers:

"I can explain! I did it for my country! I love my country."

After being convicted of Kennedy's murder, Sirhan told his jailer:

“It’s not very many people my age who is considered a martyr by his people.
Just think, I’ll go down in history as a martyr and will always be remembered, at least by my countrymen.”

He told us, over and over again, why he killed Kennedy. He did it for his country; for Palestine.

Sirhan envisioned himself as a revolutionary, committing a revolutionary act. And it's true that he did put the Palestinian liberation movement on the front pages of newspapers for the very first time. Assassinating RFK brought attention to the plight of Palestinians -- and that's exactly what Sirhan intended to do.

In addition, Sirhan's anti-Zionism was the primary motivating emotion that drove him to target high-profile political leaders for assassination. More than a year before he shot RFK, Sirhan was already naming the pro-Israel politicians he wanted to kill in his notebook, starting at the top: President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

(See this thread for more details.)
https://twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer/status/1799558104834560147

Sirhan also wanted to murder U.N. Ambassador Arthur Goldberg.

(More info on Sirhan';s notebook entries about killing Goldberg below)
https://twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer/status/1799561907415711884

Even after he was locked up awaiting trial for killing RFK, Sirhan was wishing death upon Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

(See this thread for more)
https://twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer/status/1800377657546379541

After his arrest, Sirhan was asked if he felt any shame. "Hell no!" He said.

Clearly, Sirhan had no remorse for what he did. He was quite proud of himself.

While behind bars, Sirhan constantly asked for newspapers from the Arab world, eager to read what was being written about his "heroic act" by those who -- unlike Americans -- fully understood his motives.

Indeed, Sirhan was hailed a hero in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and back home in Palestine. Even the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Al-Husseini instructed his fellow Arabs to give Sirhan all possible aid after his arrest. The Grand Mufti's call was answered by Arab lawyers who came to assist Sirhan, and Arab Americans who held fundraisers for his legal defense fund and provided financial support for the Sirhan family.

In 1968, Sirhan's motives were lost on most Americans, who rationalized the assassination of Robert Kennedy as the senseless act of a madman. We, as a nation, did not yet understand the complexities or history of the Middle East conflict. This was before the era of Palestinian skyjackings, hostage-takings, the Munich Olympics massacre, terrorist attacks, and 9/11.

In 2003, The Los Angeles Times wrote that Sirhan "fired the first shot in the War on Terror."

Indeed, he did. Sirhan's name will be recorded in the history books as the first Palestinian terrorist to strike at the heart of America, on American soil.

Tonight on Episode 38 of "Strange Bedfellows" British author and historian Mel Ayton will give us a sneak preview of his upcoming biography of Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (his second book about Sirhan).

Ayton's previous book "The Forgotten Terrorist: Sirhan Sirhan and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy" is recommended reading for anyone seeking to understand Sirhan's Arab nationalism, his antisemitism, his past in Palestine, his deep-rooted hatred of Israel, and his motives for the crime. The 2019 edition features a Foreword by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.

Mel Ayton says that Kennedy's son RFK Jr. (currently running for president as an Independent) is wrong about a conspiracy in his father's murder, and tonight he will explain why.

Sirhan is as guilty as sin, Ayton argues -- and he makes a very compelling case.

Don't miss this interview tonight at 9 PM Eastern on "Strange Bedfellows!"

Buy Mel Ayton's book "The Forgotten Terrorist" about Sirhan here:

https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Terrorist-Sirhan-Assassination-Kennedy/dp/1597970808

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