ROBERT F. KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION (KNX-RADIO; LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA) (JUNE 5, 1968)

[@jamiej.tilleyphotographyar5177]

The emotion in the eyewitness’ voices is very moving. The reporter/witness saying: “He’s shot right in the head!” Another gem from history, thank you David.

[@richardbailey511]

DVP .. these are always so informative.. Thanks for posting

[@dawnjensen5615]

I agree...

[@scootertooter6874]

Crazy...I'm 60 and remember clearly hearing that RFK passed away on the morning of 6 June, while I was in a school bus heading to school (1st grade). Chilling.

[@MrCrystalcranium]

"Now it's on to Chicago and let's win there"...seconds from death. It's amazing to me that just minutes after the first shot, KNX had a witness on the air, a crying reporter, saying "He's shot right in the head...lying on his back, his eyes closed and he's not moving". Meanwhile, ABC TV was on the air, running the music and rolling the credits when the news came back to them. Howard K. Smith went back on the air and hosted at least 30 minutes of disinformation, chaos, awful communication with on the scene reporters etc. Smith kept coming back to information he had that the Senator "was shot in the hip" most probably a misinterpretation of being told he had been shot in the head. When Smith came back to live coverage, he had had about 3 minutes to think about what he was going to say and he apparently, given his writing background, wanted to sound so profound saying "..a shot went off like a loud clap of thunder". Sirhan's gun sounded like popcorn kernels popping, not a loud clap of thunder and there wasn't anything near a single shot fired. SS emptied his revolver.

[@gregv79]

I only have about half a dozen good uploads saved on this fateful night at the old Ambassador. One of them is 6 hours. This is a great shorter upload. This was a mess and in my view also not the result of a lone gunman. Thanks

[@dawnjensen5615]

3 1/2 years before my time. The shock people felt. Probably thinking not again.. I do think Robert would have won in 1968.

[@davalvideo]

Actually, he might not have even won the nomination that summer. All predictions published and broadcast at the time had Kennedy coming in a distant second to Hubert Humphrey in terms of delegates.

[@Michael1966W]

He wouldn’t have won. The party was split and the fix was in for Humphrey. Humphrey was going to get the nomination no matter if Kennedy lived or not.

[@beatlejim64]

Getting up...getting ready for school in Manchester Ct....put on the television...and then this...

[@raelraven3]

We were already off for the summer in Alabama. I got up in the morning, walked into the living room expecting to see the usual cartoons on our television. Instead I saw a rerun of the chaos in the ballroom the night before-anguished cries “Is there a doctor in the house,” which to my 7 year old ears almost sounded like a “Mother May I?” style kids game. Then CBS showed the film taken seconds after the shooting in the pantry. It was absolutely horrifying.

[@holtridge7337]

News coverage was a lot different back then.

[@Michael1966W]

The detectives in this case also were the detectives in the brutal murders of Leno and Rosemary Labianca in 1969

[@darwinblinks]

Which makes sense, since both involved cover-ups.

[@AllenJones-w3p]

The murders of the LaBiancas were authorized by Charles Manson, who. also authorized the murders of film actress Sharon Tate and several others.

[@deloysterns]

Was the real first unscheduled breaking News event that KMX 1070 did after switching to the All news format in April 1968 that it so known for accross the USA

[@wmbrown6]

It was also another trial by fire for KFWB 98, which became all-news on March 11.

[@dictionpun1549]

The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the U.S. Senator from New York, at 12:15 AM (Pacific Daylight Time) on Wednesday, June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, U.S. Time Zone: 12:15 AM (Pacific Daylight Time) 1:15 AM (Mountain Daylight Time) 2:15 AM (Central Daylight Time) 3:15 AM (Eastern Daylight Time) 4:15 AM (Atlantic Daylight Time) 4:45 AM (Newfoundland Daylight Time) 8:15 AM (British Summer Time)

[@bufnyfan1]

He was SHOT on June 5 but died on June 6, 1968 at 1:44 AM