Paul Schrade, who worked with Robert F. Kennedy on his 1968 presidential run, has died. He was 97.
The auto workers union leader, who was also wounded in Kennedy's assassination, died at his home on Wednesday in Los Angeles, his brother-in-law Martin Weil told The Washington Post.
He survived a gunshot to the head when Sirhan Sirhan opened fire shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, killing Kennedy and wounding five others. The Democratic presidential hopeful previously gave a speech to his supporters as he celebrated wins in the California and South Dakota primaries that night.
After Sirhan was granted parole at age 77 in August 2021, Schrade, who believed there was a high-level coverup of a second shooter, told California TV station KGET: "I don't excuse him for what he did, but I don't excuse the LAPD and the district attorneys for 52 years of saying he's guilty when he is not."
He said that he held no "animosity" toward Sirhan, as two of RFK's sons, Douglas Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also supported the release and prosecutors declined to argue a position.
Although the parole board determined that Sirhan no longer poses a threat to society and was suitably remorseful, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed the decision and denied Sirhan's parole in January.
