Erik and Lyle Menendez are firing back at Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman ... telling him it's stupid to compare them to Sirhan Sirhan because they actually admitted to killing their parents.
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00:00The Menendez brothers are really upset about a comparison that's been made, and I could completely understand at any time, but particularly this week, this is not something they want to hear thrown around.
00:12They are, of course, going in for the resentencing hearing on Friday, and they say the L.A. County District Attorney, Nathan Hockman, continues to make references when he speaks about them,
00:24sort of drawing a parallel between them and the man who is in prison for assassinating RFK, Sirhan Sirhan.
00:32So this is one of the times that Nathan Hockman has done this, so you can hear how he's comparing them, and we'll tell you what the brothers, what their reaction is to this.
00:42And Sirhan Sirhan, he was a murderer of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and he shot five additional people that night.
00:49And here we have the Menendez brothers, who are murderers of their parents the night of August 20th, 1989.
00:58While Sirhan Sirhan is 77 at the time that Governor Newsom made his decision, right now the Menendezes are either 57-year-old from Lyle Menendez or 54-year-old for Eric Menendez.
01:11Here's the weird thing about this. There are a couple of things that immediately come to mind.
01:16The decision, by the way, he's referring to is that Governor Newsom refused.
01:19That Gavin Newsom, the parole board recommended that they parole Sirhan Sirhan, and Governor Newsom rejected that.
01:26So what's interesting about this is it feels like he's trying to put some pressure on Gavin Newsom to deny clemency, whereas his role is really at the court level in terms of this resentencing hearing, which is happening on Friday.
01:44So why is he invoking Sirhan's name in connection with Gavin Newsom when Newsom's going to make the decision that he wants to make?
01:54But it's weird to me that, is he putting pressure on Newsom?
01:58Because it's almost like he knows that that resentencing, I know, you're saying, why isn't he focused on the resentencing hearing?
02:03It's almost like he knows that Gavin Newsom has already laid this out so that the resentencing hearing isn't as important.
02:12But he's really picked up this mantle of keep them in, and he's actually kind of lobbying Newsom already.
02:20I find it odd he's speaking out so loudly about it. The DA does their talking in court.
02:24They have their opportunity, they have their teams of prosecutors.
02:26I find it odd that he's made such a political, it's almost like Hockman has made this a political point for him,
02:33that he's going to show that he's hard on crime by keeping the Menendezes behind bars.
02:37The comparison to Sirhan Sirhan is particularly unfair, I think.
02:40But nevertheless, it's a...
02:41Well, it's apples and oranges. I mean, it's total apples and oranges.
02:44The Sirhan Sirhan assassination...
02:47You were there at the Ambassador Hotel that night.
02:49It was, yeah.
02:50That was a political assassination, and this was a complete...
02:56This was a murder, but all murders aren't the same.
03:00That was a political assassination, and this...
03:04And there's an issue when somebody is so motivated to carry out their political ideals.
03:12You know, if they killed...
03:13If he killed Robert Kennedy, what if he's all pissed off now about what's going on in the Middle East?
03:19Right.
03:19Is he going to do it again?
03:21The safety concerns aren't the same with the Menendez brothers, so it's apples and oranges.
03:25So they're pissed off...
03:26Yeah.
03:27The Menendez brothers are upset about the comparison.
03:30The comparison aside, just the fact that he's trying to put pressure on Gavin Newsom,
03:34I don't know what dog Nathan Hockman has in the fight for whether or not the Menendez get out vis-a-vis a governatorial act.
03:43I'm sure the way he views it is it's a crime that was committed in L.A. County, and as the D.A. in L.A. County,
03:50he wants to be seen as, I am not soft on crime.
03:53But you can do that on the merits of the individual case, because to me, Sirhan Sirhan and Eric and Lyle Menendez are apples and oranges.
04:02They are, but I think he believes...
04:05They are apples and oranges, but he doesn't want the apple or the orange to be let out of prison.
04:11That's fair, but then do you just have a blanket statement, no clemency for anybody who committed murder?
04:19I mean, is that the endgame?
04:20He hasn't said that, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was his feeling.
04:25Hi, y'all. I'm Laila Mitchell out of Roanoke, Virginia, and I totally agree.
04:29I think the Menendez brothers are definitely pushing back hard against L.A. D.A. Nathan Hockman.
04:34And honestly, I think they have a point.
04:36They confess Sirhan Sirhan still claims he's innocent, and pretending these two cases are identical just, to me, feels careless.
04:44By the way, you can watch our documentary, The Menendez Brothers, The Prison Interview.
04:48It is streaming now on Hulu.
04:50Yes, you've heard me.
04:51Bye, y'all.
04:52Bye, y'all.
04:52Bye, y'all.
04:54Bye, y'all.
05:08Bye.
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05:09Bye.
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05:11Bye.
05:12Bye.