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RFK Must Die: what Wikipedia removed

RFK Must Die is a 2007 documentary exploring conspiracy theories around the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy by Sirhan Sirhan, whose notebook contained the words “R.F.K. must die.” Through 2010 the opening noted that revisionist historians have cast him as “the first Arab terrorist.” Today the phrase is gone entirely, with a word count of zero in the article. A reader today does not learn that historians have described Sirhan, RFK’s killer, as “the first Arab terrorist.”

The word “terror” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today it appears nowhere in the article at all, references included. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word2010201520206 October 20232025
terror10000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The opening sentence describing the documentary was reworded; no distinct fact was lost.
  • The clause was reworded to name Shane O’Sullivan explicitly; the underlying fact of his earlier BBC Newsnight and Guardian reporting survives in today’s opening.
  • The clause continuing into the film’s account of the assassination’s political context was dropped from the opening paragraph.
  • The conspiracy detail about a woman in a polka-dot dress reportedly seen with Sirhan was dropped from the opening paragraph.
  • The characterization of Sirhan Sirhan as “the first Arab terrorist” by revisionist historians was dropped from the opening paragraph.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2010 (revision 367708089):

2007 British film RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy is an investigative documentary by Irish writer and filmmaker Shane O’Sullivan released in 2007. The film expands on his earlier reports for BBC Newsnight and the Guardian and explores what really happened the night Bobby Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968. The title comes from a page of ” free writing ” found in Sirhan Sirhan’s notebook after the shooting, in which he wrote “R.F.K. must die - RFK must be killed Robert F. Kennedy must be assassinated… before June 5 ‘68.” Running on an anti-war ticket, Kennedy had just won the California Democratic primary and was confident he would challen…

2025 (revision 1277649091):

( Learn how and when to remove this message ) 2007 British film RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy is a 2007 investigative documentary by Irish writer and filmmaker Shane O’Sullivan . The film expands on O’Sullivan’s earlier reports for BBC Newsnight and The Guardian and explores conspiracy theories related to the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy on 5 June 1968. The title comes from a page of ” free writing ” found in assassin Sirhan Sirhan ‘s notebook after the shooting upon which Sirhan had written “R.F.K. must die - RFK must be killed Robert F. Kennedy must be assassinated… before June 5 ‘68.”

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