RFK Assassination Files Released For The First Time
on Apr 18, 2025
Over 10,000 Pages Of Documents On RFK Assassination Released By DNI
On June 5, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot multiple times at a presidential campaign event in Los Angeles.
The next day, the presidential hopeful — and younger brother to the previously assassinated President John F. Kennedy — was pronounced dead.
Now, nearly six decades later, the files regarding the assassination of RFK have been released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Friday, April 18.
This is in keeping with an executive order President Donald Trump issued to release all of the documents pertaining to the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and the Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Trump’s executive order reads:
“Although no Act of Congress directs the release of information pertaining to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have determined that the release of all records in the Federal Government’s possession pertaining to each of those assassinations is also in the public interest.”
Following the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on Trump, the president made the release of such documents a campaign promise.
On March 18, the JFK assassination files were released.
Preparing The Files
Uploaded to the National Archives, a press release from the Office of the DNI noted that files on the assassinations of RFK and MLK had never been digitized.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard tasked a team to work on digitizing over 10,000 pages of documents pertaining to the assassination of RFK alone.
In the press release, Gabbard said, “The American people will, for the first time, have the opportunity to review the federal government’s investigation thanks to the leadership of President Trump. My team is honored that the President entrusted us to lead the declassification efforts and to shine a long-overdue light on the truth. I extend my deepest thanks for Bobby Kennedy and his families’ support.”
Speaking on the release of these documents pertaining to the assassination of his father, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “Lifting the veil on the RFK papers is a necessary step toward restoring trust in American government. I commend President Trump for his courage and his commitment to transparency. I’m grateful also to Tulsi Gabbard for her dogged efforts to root out and declassify these documents.”
The files may be accessed at https://www.archives.gov/research/rfk.
A Look Into The Files
Approaching the files, there are many known factors, such as the involvement of Palestinian radical Sirhan Sirhan, who was convicted of first-degree murder for the assassination of RFK.
Sirhan, now 81, remains incarcerated on a life sentence.
However, there have been many conspiracy theories which have surrounded the assassination of RFK. Sirhan used a .22 caliber revolver, which only carries eight bullets. It is believed there were 13 shots fired.
Even RFK Jr., who has expressed his belief that Sirhan did not kill his father, has been quoted saying, “You can’t fire 13 shots out of an eight-shot gun.”
In the San Francisco Chronicle, RFK Jr. wrote on December 8, 2021:
“Sirhan fired only two shots directly at my dad. One of them struck [Paul] Schrade in the head. The other likely lodged in a door jamb behind my father. Five men then tackled and pinned Sirhan to a steam table and diverted his gun away from my father. From beneath that dogpile, Sirhan squeezed off six more shots, emptying his chamber as five of the six shots hit bystanders. This accounts for seven of the eight rounds in Sirhan’s gun. The only audio recording of the shooting, however, suggests that at least 13 shots may have been fired.”
The two initial documents uploaded on the National Archive present, in chronological order, some of the early leads followed by FBI offices as word of the assassination attempt was teletyped after the 12:15 a.m. June 5, 1968, incident.
What we find are a series of exchanges between FBI personnel regarding known associates of Sirhan, and interviews which were conducted in the days and months after.
There are also concerns of word of the assassination circulating over a month before it happened on a tour-guided trip through the Holy Land, which was attended by several Americans.
Letters written by citizens to government officials, including the likes of Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, can also be found.
Watch the June 5, 1968, CBS coverage of Robert F. Kennedy’s final speech and the assassination which followed here:
This is a developing story. A followup will be published on Country Rebel.
