Interesting Stuff on the RFKA

[Benjamin Cole]

Here is a bit from Larry Hancock's blog:

The RFK file ‘release’ has not drawn the media attention the earlier JFK releases did, nor have there been extended remarks from RFK Jr. on the release. Of course what we are now seeing going online are relatively routine FBI RFK Name files, basically correspondence directed the FBI – much of it calling for an investigation of Sirhan in terms of communist or radical Arab or Palestinian influence. There are also requests from LAPD for routine background checks on individuals and copies of LAPD investigative materials and evidence (including autopsy photos) – as well as newspaper coverage of the trial.

This is the sort of thing we would expect given that the FBI was simply supporting LAPD in a criminal investigation, not itself ‘working’ the crime. As to the evidence itself, and the extensive LAPD investigative files, much of it has been available at the California Archives, Dartmouth and other institutions (including the Mary Ferrell Foundation) for many years.

https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/RFK_Assassination_Documents.html

It's not that the RFK releases don’t give us further insight into the context of the crime, but primarily they simply broaden our historical view. We are not seeing brand new investigative files with the RFK materials, we are seeing history – history from bulk files (many simply copies from LAPD or elsewhere) not withheld or secret, simply from FBI records setting in the National Archives.

But is that really all there is?

Anyone reviewing the press coverage of Sirhan, or the witness statements made at his trial would have found ample indications of his Palestinian advocacy, of his hatred of Israel, and his negative view of his experience in America. He had made no effort to conceal those feelings. There were also LAPD reports of Sirhan in the company of others – young people of apparent Arab descent – both before the assassination and at the Ambassador Hotel the evening of the crime. And the FBI and the CIA were well aware of activist Arab, pro-Palestinian student groups in the U.S. – including groups Sirhan might have encountered during his two years at Pasadena City College.

The FBI and CIA were also aware that foreign nation’s intelligence services were actively working in the United States – working to counter opposition from expatriates and students studying in American colleges. Perhaps the most active of those was Iranian intelligence, known as SAVAK. Initially established with CIA assistance to support the newly installed Shah of Iran. SAVAK was particularly active in its overseas missions.

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81M00980R000600050015-5.pdf

Click to access Meisels-Eitan_SNR-Thesis_web.pdf

In that regard we know that a series of reports given to both the FBI and LAPD identified the Khan family of Iran as being associated with Sirhan immediately before the assassination (the family being ex-patriots with their own problems with the Shah and SAVAK).

All of this raises the question of whether any element of the American Intelligence community – CIA, FBI, NSA – held files which might have been relevant to foreign involvement in the RFK assassination. Files which would have pointed towards potential influence, contact or even influence over Sirhan – provoking or otherwise taking advantage of his own publicly stated political views (which testimony showed he was never hesitant to express to friends and acquaintances).

LAPD certainly collected numerous leads and reports which would have had at least suggested the possibility of foreign involvement in the crime. While they, and the LA District Attorney, ultimately chose not to pursue the question of influence and conspiracy at trial, did the American intelligence community choose to ignore it as well? Or are did relevant files exist which might truly expand our view of the murder of an American Senator and Presidential candidate?

If so, bringing something new to the RFK assassination is going to take more than simply scanning bulk files at NARA. Someone with major authority would have to order an actual search for such files – files the CIA in particular would have not been anxious to share back in the 1970’s – or even now.

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If Larry Hancock thinks there is more to the RFKA story...then there probably is.

Hancock recommends the book Buried in Plain Sight by John Hunt to understand the mechanics or physical aspects of the RFK1A. I read the book, which is a difficult read, but by far the best on that aspect topic. I have read the usual works on the topic, which are not impressive. Lisa Pease is a joke.

One thing I was somewhat reminded of, when I read the Hunt book:

RFK’s head wound had been debrided, his head had been shaved around the wound (which was within the hairline), carefully scrubbed (surgery prep), bones removed from the skull, and the wound stitched up before Noguchi ever examined RFK. Of course, this all makes sense as RFK was alive after the shooting. I had never pondered that aspect of the autopsy before.

Hunt, and Hancock, think the Noguchi autopsy is somewhat overrated.

I have to wonder how accurate an assessment can be made from powder burns, aka stippling, on RFK1's skull, after the surgery prep, scrubbing, shaving, and any number of hours before Noguchi could even make an examination. Noguchi fired handguns into muslin-covered balls or pig's ears to try to approximate the stippling that remained visible on RFK. I guess that was all he could do. Seemingly, no one ever challenged how accurate such procedures could be given the condition of the body when Noguchi received it.

LAPD tests on RFK1A's coat show a close-range shot, but not point blank.

But the testimony of Ed Uecker, he (Uecker) was holding RFK1's wrist, when Sirhan brushed past him and extended his arm towards RFK. How close was that? 

I also recommend Larry Hancock's excellent monograph at the MFF website:

https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/Featured_Incomplete_Justice_Series_Complete.html


Caveat emptor, and draw your own conclusions. I will post more on this topic soon.

[Michael T. Griffith]

This is from the front page of my RFK assassination website:

Evidence shows that Sirhan's gun could not have fired all the shots, and that he was never in position to fire the shots that hit the senator. RFK was shot from behind at very close range, but eyewitness accounts establish that Sirhan was always in front of Kennedy and was at least 3-4 feet from him.

On many occasions before the assassination, numerous witnesses saw Sirhan in the company of a woman in her twenties with light-brown or brown hair, a nice figure, and an odd-looking nose, and in the company of a brown-haired man who was about 6 feet tall.

Witnesses saw these same two people at the Ambassador Hotel shortly before RFK was killed. They said the woman was wearing a white dress with dark polka dots, and several of them noted her odd-looking nose. One witness in the pantry said the woman was standing with Sirhan shortly before the shooting began.

Seconds after the shots were fired, another witness in the pantry saw the woman and a man running toward the pantry's northern exit. An NBC news segment broadcast less than an hour after the shooting said that right after the shots rang out, while Sirhan was still pinned down, a man was seen "trying to get out the other end" of the pantry, and people were "running, screaming, and chasing after him."

Moments afterward, one witness outside the hotel saw the polka-dot-dress woman and a man running down the rear fire escape. Three witnesses outside heard the woman gleefully say "We shot him! We shot him!" on her way down the fire escape. One witness said the man was carrying a newspaper with a gun protruding from it. The light-haired woman and the brown-haired man appear to have been Sirhan's handlers. (https://sites.google.com/view/the-rfk-assassination/home)