I found this article today from the Boston-Bay State Banner. Rafer Johnson was a decathlete who won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympic games. He put his job at risk to campaign for RFK in California in 1968 and was with him at the end:
On June 5, 1968, the night of the California primary, Rafer Johnson walked a few paces behind Kennedy as he exited the Ambassador Hotel Ballroom and cut through the kitchen. After shots rang out, he and professional football player Roosevelt Grier wrestled Sirhan B. Sirhan to the floor.
It's sad to say that there were rumours that Rosie Grier and Rafer Johnson were arguing over who wrestled the gun from Sirhan. I have no idea if this is true or not. If anyone has more details about this, please share them with us.
But it really isn't important when it comes down to it and I'm sure they came to that conclusion themselves. Like Rafer himself said at the end of the article:
“We’re here today to talk about Robert Kennedy.”
1 comment:
I saw an article on this a couple of years ago, probably around the time of the anniversary of the death of RFK. And yes, it said Grier and Johnson were no longer on speaking terms. I also remember reading somewhere that Grier became a very religious person later in life.
Apparently there were two struggles for the gun; after it was taken away from him the first time, Sirhan managed to grab it back and a second struggle to take it away from him ensued.
It was Rafer Johnson who handed the gun to the LAPD later. And Grier pinned Sirhan down until the police came to take him away.
This is some of the info I got from reading the books and articles by people who were in the kitchen corridor at the time it happened (e.g. ‘When I think of Bobby’, by Warren Rogers).
It is also interesting (and heartbreaking) to listen to the tapes with the interviews the LAPD had with those witnesses a couple of hours after the shooting.
(Sorry for the long post!)
Ria
Post a Comment