Evan Phillip Freed (born September 11, 1946) is an attorney and freelance photographer who traveled with and photographed the

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

. Freed was present when

Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (; ; born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian-Jordanian man who assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a younger brother of American president John F. Kennedy and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1968 U ...

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 ...

Kennedy.

Life and education

Evan Freed was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He graduated from

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...

and University of West Los Angeles School of Law.

Robert F. Kennedy assassination

Freed photographed Kennedy's presidential campaign. At the time of the assassination, Freed had stepped into the pantry area behind the Embassy Ballroom of the

Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles) The Ambassador Hotel was a hotel in Los Angeles, California. Designed by architect Myron Hunt, the hotel formally opened to the public on January 1, 1921. Later renovations by architect Paul Williams (architect), Paul Williams were made to the ...

to repair his damaged camera. He heard shots and immediately saw

firing a revolver toward Senator Kennedy. Freed was then pressed against the wall by a crush of bodies. He watched the struggle to subdue Sirhan, and saw two men and a woman running for the exit at the east end of the pantry. Kennedy campaign worker Sandy Serrano reported seeing a girl in a polka dot dress running from the scene with a man accompanying her, and claimed that the girl exclaimed, "We shot him! We shot him!" When asked to whom the girl was referring, Serrano reported that the girl said, "We shot Senator Kennedy!" Evan Freed also saw the girl in the polka dot dress, who is linked to

Robert F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories There are several conspiracy theories of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, which took place shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel, during celebrations following h ...

. Freed appeared in Shane O'Sullivan's 2007 documentary ''

RFK Must Die ''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 con ...

''. Freed's testimony has been cited in support of

Later years

In 1979 Freed was admitted to practice law by the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is an administrative division of the Supreme Court of California which licenses attorneys and regulates the practice of law in California. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law ...

. From 1982 to 1987 Freed was employed by the

Los Angeles County Public Defender The Los Angeles County Public Defender's (LACPD) office is an agency of the government of Los Angeles County. LACPD was the first public defender agency in the United States. The current public defender is Ricardo García. It provides legal as ...

as a criminal defense attorney. In 1987 he joined the Law Offices of the Alternate Defense Counsel in Los Angeles where he worked until 1995. In 1995 Freed was hired by the

Los Angeles City Attorney The Los Angeles City Attorney is an elected official who serves as the City of Los Angeles' government's lawyer and as a criminal prosecutor for misdemeanor offenses only. The City Attorney is elected for four years, and the City Charter requires ...

as a criminal prosecutor. While employed there Freed provided information to the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

used in a police corruption case, in which an indictment was handed down while authorities continued to probe allegations of misconduct, criminality and civil rights violations in the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

. Freed left the Los Angeles City Attorney's office in 1997 and is now a criminal defense lawyer in Redondo Beach, California. A notable case was Freed's defense of a young driver involved in a fatal accident. Freed contended that glare and not a dirty windshield was the cause of the accident. The case was settled with a plea bargain. In another case, Freed obtained a reduced federal court sentence for a man convicted of rhino horn trafficking. Freed represented one defendant in the 2015 Rowland Heights, California bullying incident, who received a 13-year sentence in a plea bargain.Chinese teens sentenced in brutal Rowland Heights beatings. Ruby Gonzales, San Gabriel Valley Tribune retrieved 2/19/16

Evan Freed's Robert F. Kennedy photos

Image: Robert Kennedy in Los Angeles.jpg,

, Los Angeles 1968 Image: Rkennedy05.jpg, Robert Kennedy, San Francisco 1968 Image: Rkennedy02.jpg, Robert Kennedy, Los Angeles 1968 Image: Rkennedy08.jpg, Robert Kennedy, Campaign plane 1968

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freed, Evan 1946 births Living people Robert F. Kennedy Photographers from Los Angeles Lawyers from Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles alumni University of West Los Angeles alumni