On June 5, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles following his just having declared victory in the California Democratic Primary. CBS’s raw footage coverage of that night conveys the joys and horror of that night — and the second most horrifying moment, after the moment when RFK was shot.
It’s when news of Kennedy’s death quickly started filtering to the crowd outside the kitchen. First they’re cheering RFK slogans. Then you see a wave of people in shock and reacting.
You can watch it from the beginning — or skip to that moment of incomprehensible shock and cold realization which starts at 00:44:52:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMd1iaaUyPU
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.