June 5, 1968

JFK Assassination
Bob
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June 5, 1968

Post by Bob »

49 years ago today, Senator Robert Francis Kennedy was shot in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California primary. RFK had just finished his victory speech and was walking through the pantry when he was shot. A day later, Kennedy died.We were told (and still are) that Sirhan Sirhan did the shooting and was the only gunman on the scene. Like the JFK assassination, in which we were told there was again only a lone gunman, this scenario is filled with falsehoods. The biggest being that Sirhan never got within three to six feet away from RFK as he was shooting and he was always in front of RFK. When the autopsy on RFK was done, it was determined that the fatal shot was fired from basically point blank range behind the right ear. That obviously could not have been Sirhan.Here is part of an affidavit which a witness to the assassination, Evan Freed, said he saw that night in the pantry:On the evening of the 1968 California primary, I was present at the Ambassador Hotel in a room directly adjacent to Senator Kennedy’s. We had been awaiting election results. Eventually the Senator and his staff left to go downstairs to the Embassy Room to deliver a victory speech. I accompanied the Senator on the elevator, and entered an area of the Embassy Room set aside for press photographers.During the Senator’s speech, a scuffle broke out where I was standing among several news photographers, and I was hit in the face with a large newsreel camera. My camera was also broken in the scuffle, and I decided to go to a quiet area to attempt repairs. I immediately went into the Embassy Room pantry area, arriving there about 5 minutes prior to the end of the Senator’s speech.Nothing in the pantry area seemed unusual, however, I do recall the following. Two men who looked very similar in appearance and clothing were moving about the pantry area. One man was wearing lighter clothing than the other, and he was holding a drink glass in his hand. The 2nd man was standing near the south wall of the pantry, directly across from a large metal serving table. The men never stood together, however, they appeared to be looking at each other from time-to-time. I did not pay particular attention to the 2nd man, although I do recall thinking that he was the other man’s brother. I assumed that they were in the pantry to avoid the large crowd in the Embassy Room.At one point, the man with the drink asked me how long the Senator’s speech would last, and I told him I did not know. He also asked hotel kitchen employees in the pantry where he could get some ice for his drink, and they directed him to an ice machine next to the door leading into the Embassy Room. The man with the drink was Sirhan Sirhan.When the Senator entered the pantry, he was followed by a crowd of reporters and guests. I was standing at the entrance to the pantry, and walked along the Senator’s right side until he paused near the metal serving table inside the pantry. There appeared to be some confusion at that time with some persons telling the Senator to go back up the freight elevator, and others telling him to go into an adjacent room (I believe the California Room) where the press were waiting. I assumed he would go to meet the press, and I took a few steps in front of him. I was facing the Senator’s right side at that time, about 4 feet away. It was at this time that shooting began.I saw the 2nd man (wearing the darker clothing) who had been in the pantry with Sirhan during the speech pointing a gun in an upward angle at the Senator. Based on the sound I heard, I believe the first shot came from this man’s gun. In the background, about 6-8 feet from me, I could see Sirhan firing a revolver held in his right hand in the direction of the Senator. People in the crowd were screaming and grabbing Sirhan, and I remember they were holding his arm as he was shooting. I cannot say how many shots were fired by Sirhan or by the second gunman.As the crowd rushed towards Sirhan, they passed by the 2nd gunman. He was backing away, towards the east end of the pantry. I was shoved by the surge of the crowd back against the south wall of the pantry, where I was alone next to another door that exited into the Embassy Room.At that time, I observed the 2nd gunman running in my direction. He was not holding a gun at that time. Another man was running behind him in the same direction yelling at me, “Stop that guy, stop him.” There was no one else other than the 2nd gunman that he could have been yelling at. This took place just as I was opening the door to the Embassy Room to get some help.As the 2nd gunman came to the door, the man pursuing him yelled to me again, “Get him, get it!” As the 2nd gunman passed through the door, the man pursuing him tried to grab him but failed. Both men ran into the Embassy Room. The 2nd gunman ran directly out the east doors of the Embassy Room. The man running after him almost fell as he came through the pantry doors, and he continued running in the same direction as the second gunman. I never saw either of these men again.
Slav
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Re: June 5, 1968

Post by Slav »

I wonder what happened to the guy chasing him ?
Bob Jonas
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Re: June 5, 1968

Post by Bob Jonas »

Fascinating testimony! I wonder why Mr. Freed didn't attempt to stop the man as he ran by him and through the pantry doors? I wonder if the fact that he didn't respond and stop the man haunted Mr. Freed?
Bob
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Re: June 5, 1968

Post by Bob »

Please check out this very good documentary about RFK's assassination.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ9xMnFPDA8I wonder if the other gunman (the Sirhan double) that Evan Freed saw behind RFK at the time of the shooting, was also the person who was with the lady in the polka dot dress that Sandy Serrano saw leaving the Ambassador Hotel down the stairs. He matches Serrano's description of the man. Serrano said that the lady in the polka dot dress shouted, "We shot him. We shot him."
bobspez2
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Re: June 5, 1968

Post by bobspez2 »

I saw RFK speak at the Greek Theater in Hollywood in March prior to the primary. RFK had banned the LAPD from entering the gates of the Greek Theater during his speech. And the first vote I ever cast was for RFK in the California Primary. I have read since that there were plain clothes detectives in the Ambassador Ballroom when the shooting started and that there were a total of 21 shots fired. Police chief William Parker had ordered much of the interior walls to be dismantled and preserved as evidence, however it was all subsequently destroyed due to "lack of space". Reminds me of how the 911 steel was all sent to China as scrap.
Bob
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Re: June 5, 1968

Post by Bob »

bobspez wrote:I saw RFK speak at the Greek Theater in Hollywood in March prior to the primary. RFK had banned the LAPD from entering the gates of the Greek Theater during his speech. And the first vote I ever cast was for RFK in the California Primary. I have read since that there were plain clothes detectives in the Ambassador Ballroom when the shooting started and that there were a total of 21 shots fired. Police chief William Parker had ordered much of the interior walls to be dismantled and preserved as evidence, however it was all subsequently destroyed due to "lack of space". Reminds me of how the 911 steel was all sent to China as scrap.That had to be a great experience seeing RFK speak, Bob. I never had that opportunity, but I did see Vince Bugliosi speak at my college in 1975. Bugliosi was the Los Angeles DA of course and he would have been privy to all the evidence which was accumulated regarding Bobby's assassination. When I saw Vince then, he told us that the assassination of RFK reached the highest level of government. That to me meant that he knew the CIA was involved in the assassination.Unfortunately, Bugliosi later became a tool for the CIA once he became acquainted with David Atlee Phillips. All talk of the RFK assassination ceased then for Bugliosi and he instead became a bought-off stooge who endorsed the message that LHO was the lone assassin of JFK with his book Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
bobspez2
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Re: June 5, 1968

Post by bobspez2 »

Very interesting info on Bugliosi's comment. To me anyone who says LHO was the lone assassin of JFK might as well be saying the earth is flat. It boggles my mind. When Stephen King wrote 11/22/63 with a long epilogue essay on why he believed LHO was the lone gunman, I stopped reading his novels.
Slav
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Re: June 5, 1968

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Slav
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Re: June 5, 1968

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kenmurray
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Re: June 5, 1968

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