WASHINGTON — After almost 60 years, the files from the investigation into the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy have been released.
According to the Director of National Intelligence, the files related to Kennedy’s assassination investigation were not digitized, so the National Archives and the Director’s Initiatives Group, also known as DIG, had to “manually scan and upload over 10,000 pages” of documents.
The files, which were previously classified, can be accessed on the National Archives’ website.
Some information has been redacted for privacy, including Social Security Numbers and Tax Identification Numbers.
An additional 50,000 pages of files were discovered in FBI and CIA records warehouses that had not been given to the archives, which will have to be digitized. A search is ongoing for other files. When they are available, they will also be uploaded to the website.
Kennedy, who was running for president at the time, was shot in 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel by Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted of the assassination.
The murder was investigated and prosecuted by local officials in Los Angeles. A parallel investigation by the FBI was also carried out, CBS News reported.
Sirhan at one point admitted to killing Kennedy because of the senator’s backing of Israel. He also has denied pulling the trigger, or says he can’t remember what happened.
He has asked for parole several times and was denied in all but one attempt. In 2021, the California parole board agreed to his release, but it was overridden by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In addition to the files surrounding Kennedy’s assassination, files from the investigation into the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. are also expected to be released eventually, The Associated Press reported.
King and Kennedy were assassinated within two months of each other.
Last month, tens of thousands of pages of documents relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were uploaded to the National Archives website. The archives has more than six million pages related to the president’s assassination in its collection.