More than half a century after Senator Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down in a Los Angeles hotel kitchen, the CIA has released 1,450 additional pages of documents related to his assassination — including a chilling handwritten note by the killer that reads, “Kennedy must fall. Kennedy must fall.”

The newly declassified files, released Thursday, include 54 previously classified documents and offer deeper insight into the mind and motivations of Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian-Jordanian man convicted of Kennedy’s 1968 murder. While no definitive evidence of a broader conspiracy was found in the documents, the release is already reigniting debate — and doubt — surrounding the official narrative.

Sirhan’s Mindset: Obsession, Politics, and a Deadly Mission

Among the most jarring revelations is a note dated May 19, 1968, weeks before the assassination, in which Sirhan scrawled, “Kennedy must fall. Please pay to the order of Sirhan Sirhan.” Another entry in the same set of notes states that RFK “must be sacrificed for the cause of the poor exploited people” and eerily predicts he will be “felled … by an assassin’s bullet … tonight tonight tonight.”

Psychological profiles compiled by federal investigators at the time concluded that Sirhan acted impulsively and was not likely part of a coordinated plot. One July 8, 1968 assessment found, “Under no circumstances would we have predicted that [Sirhan] was capable of doing what he did.”

The CIA report adds, “He could be a tool of a conspiracy… but it is very unlikely that he could have effectively acted under precise instructions.”

The analysis compared Sirhan to other “impulsive” assassins such as those who killed Presidents Garfield and McKinley — in contrast to “calculating” figures like John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald.

A Motive Rooted in the Middle East

In a 1989 interview with journalist David Frost, Sirhan said his primary grievance with Kennedy was his staunch support for Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, which he described as a betrayal of the Palestinian people.

Though Sirhan later expressed remorse, telling Frost he felt “nothing but sorrow” for the assassination, he also claimed to have no memory of the act itself. That statement has continued to fuel conspiracy theories — as has the fact that Kennedy was reportedly shot from behind, while Sirhan was in front of him.

RFK Jr.: Still Not Convinced

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now Health and Human Services Secretary, has long expressed doubt that Sirhan was the true assassin. In 2018, he visited Sirhan in prison, later revealing, “I was disturbed that the wrong person might have been convicted.”

RFK Jr. has also pointed fingers at Thane Eugene Cesar, a part-time security guard working at the Ambassador Hotel on the night of the assassination. Cesar, who denied involvement and was never charged, died in the Philippines in 2019. Kennedy’s 2021 op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle argued, “The idea that Sirhan murdered my dad is a fiction that is impeding justice.”

Many members of the Kennedy family opposed RFK Jr.’s efforts to seek parole for Sirhan, who is now 81 and remains incarcerated.

Kennedy’s Hidden Role as CIA Informant?

In a surprise twist, the declassified documents also include revelations about a 1955 trip Robert Kennedy took to the Soviet Union. Then a young Senate staffer, Kennedy reportedly acted as a voluntary CIA informant, providing over 1,000 photos and detailed notes during his Cold War-era visit with Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.

One intelligence official said the files “exemplify RFK’s patriotism,” calling his cooperation with the CIA an early sign of his commitment to national security, even as he would later challenge the Agency’s power during his time as Attorney General.

A Push for Transparency

CIA Director John Ratcliffe praised the release as fulfilling President Trump’s “commitment to maximum transparency.”

“Today’s release delivers on that promise and allows the public to better understand one of the most tragic and controversial moments in American political history,” Ratcliffe said.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who oversaw the broader declassification effort, previously made public more than 10,000 pages of material related to the RFK assassination. RFK Jr. thanked both Trump and Gabbard in a statement, calling the release “a crucial step toward truth and accountability.”

Yet, for many Americans — and even members of the Kennedy family — the central question still lingers: Did Sirhan Sirhan act alone?