Kennedy Assassination

1
Kennedy Assassination

• Cutting through Conspiracies

2
November 22, 1963

• JFK was in Dallas trying to get support for next
  years election.
• Dallas had an unfriendly reputation towards
  politicians.

3
Lee Harvey Oswald

• Shown here in Oak Cliff, Texas.
• Tried to defect to the Soviet Union and Cuba.

4
School Book Depository

• LHO got a job in this building. He would
  eventually shoot JFK from the sixth floor.

5
6th floor
6
Sixth Floor of the School Book Depository
7
Snipers perch

• This is Lee Harvey Oswalds view from the 6th
  floor of the School Book Depository

8
(No Transcript)
9

• As the presidential limousine drove along Elm St
  in Dealey Plaza, at least three shots were fired.
• Kennedy was hit at least twice. One shot struck
  him in the upper back, exiting through his neck.
  Another shot struck him in the head and killed
  him.
• At least three shots were fired from the Sixth
  Floor of the Texas School Book Depository
  building.
• After this, the controversy begins.

10
Zapruders film was the most famous evidence
11
(No Transcript)
12
He was filming from here.
13
Sniper perch
1st shot
3rd shot
14
This plaque sits next to where he was fatally
shot.
15
Kennedy was rushed to Parkland
16
Oswald fled the scene

• He checked into his boarding house on 1026
  Beckley.
• Officer J. Tippit stops on the street to talk to
  Oswald.
• Oswald shoots him 4 times to death

17
Lee Harvey Oswald walked 8 blocks to Texas
Theatre on Jefferson Blvd.
18
Arrested

• The Cops beat him up after Oswald resists arrest
  at the theatre.

19
LBJ was sworn in at Love Field
20

• The new president, Lyndon Johnson, set up an
  investigation into the assassination. The man in
  charge was Chief Justice Earl Warren. His report
  concluded that
• that only three shots were fired
• that the second and third of these hit Kennedy
• the third shot to JFKs head was fatal
• the shots were fired from the Book Depository by
  Lee Harvey Oswald, who worked there.
• there was only one gunman and, therefore, no
  conspiracy.

21
LHO was being escorted to another jail.
22
Oswald transferred to another jail.

• Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, shoots
  Oswald on live TV.
• LHO will never go on record why he did what he
  did. He is now dead.

23
LHO killed

• You killed the President, you rat!

24
Case Closed?

• Oswald fired 3 shots (missed the first one)
• The assassination was filmed (Zapruder)
• The government investigated the murder for years
  and concluded that Oswald acted alone.
• Virtually no witness at that time gave indication
  that more than 3 shots were fired at Kennedy.
• However. . . .

25
80 of people today believe JFK was killed by
someone else!!!!
26
Composite Conspiracy Story

• JFK was killed by a conspiracy of high government
  officials with LBJ working with the CIA, the
  mafia and anti-Castro Americans who all want
  revenge for Kennedys lack of support in the
  failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. At the same
  time (in contradiction), Castro killed JFK with
  Russias help. Jack Ruby killed LHO so he
  wouldnt talk. Ruby died with a deep, dark secret!

27
Lets keep in mind

• Many people thought Elvis was alive for decades
  after his death.
• Many people think Tupac Shakur is alive.
• Many people think that NASA never landed on the
  moon.
• Many think Bush let 9-11 happen on purpose.

28
To make matters worse. . .

• Oliver Stone made a movie called JFK in 1992.
• The movie is full of errors, lies and bad
  science.

29
Stones JFK helped advance these falsehoods about
the assassination

• Oswald could not have shot JFK from the sixth
  floor in less than 6 seconds.
• Kennedy was shot from the front by gunmen on the
  grassy knoll.
• Jack Ruby killed Oswald on orders from the mafia
  to keep Oswald quiet about everything.

30
Could Oswald have made those shots?

• Yes! Oswald was a sharpshooter trained by the US
  Marines.
• He scored a 212 out of 250 on a 200 yard shooting
  range.
• JFKs car was only 50 yards away from the
  snipers nest and moved 10mph

31
Jack Ruby

• Conspiracists believe Jack Ruby was a mobster who
  killed Oswald to silence him.
• Ruby died in jail a couple of years later,
  supposedly with some deep dark secret.

32
However. . .

• Jack Ruby knew gangsters but was not one. (He
  knew lots of cops too!)
• He was a night club owner.
• Those that knew him said he couldnt keep a
  secret for 2 minutes!

33
Ruby

• Rubys assassination was not planned.
• Ruby left his dog and his girlfriend in the car
  when he left to shoot Oswald.
• No conspiracy here from Jack Ruby!

34
Was Kennedy shot from the front?
2nd assassin?
Zapruder
35
Back and to the left?

• Many assume based on JFKs bodily motion and
  blood spray that he was shot from the front.

36
No witnesses reported gunshots that day!
2nd assassin?
Zapruder
wall
37
All witnesses that day described shots from where
Oswald was
Witness described people but no shots behind
fence
Oswald
38
Picket fence
39
View from behind fence (x marks the spot)
3rd shot
40
Picket fence shooter theory

• There were plenty of witnesses in that area.
  None reported hearing shots. A few attention
  seekers claimed they did years later.
• The witness behind the fence died in a single car
  crash 2 years later, festering conspirators'
  ideas.
• Many witnesses have been accused of being a part
  of the conspiracy, including Zapruder (born in
  Russia).

41
Autopsy

• Kennedy was hit in the back of the neck, not the
  front.
• He was hit in the back of the head, not the
  front.
• A shooter could not have hit JFK from the fence
  without hitting Jackie or her area.

42
Magic Bullet?

• Oliver Stone argued that a single bullet could
  not have hit JFK and Governor Connally the way
  reported.

43
Magic Bullet?

• Using the bullet wounds, Stone used this diagram
  to convince people that one bullet could not hit
  JFK and the governor the way reported.
• Notice both
• heads are
• level with
• each other.

44
JFK sat elevated above Connally
wrong
45
Single Bullet Theory

• Once their seats are properly aligned, the single
  bullet theory appears to be valid!

46
Umbrella Man?

• Some say there was a mysterious man fanning an
  umbrella right as Kennedy was shot. Oliver Stone
  said he was signaling to shoot JFK.

here
47
Umbrella Man

• Not much mystery here. The man was questioned
  and identified.
• He was trying to heckle JFK with his umbrella in
  a way that he himself did not quite understand.
• One guy told me he was a Soviet agent.

here
48
Badge Man?

• Was there a mysterious man wearing a badge near
  the fence?
• Again, no shots were fired from this area.
• JFKs entry wounds were in the back of his neck
  and head.

49
Motives?

• Everybody seemed to have a reason to kill JFK if
  one thinks about it hard enough.

50
Lyndon B. Johnson

• Supposedly, JFK wanted to withdraw from Vietnam.
• LBJ had him killed so he could continue the war
  (supposedly).

51
LBJ

• Kennedy gave no clear evidence of exiting
  Vietnam.
• LBJ showed no desire for escalating this bitch
  of a war. (LBJs words).

52
The Mob?

• The mob supposedly wanted to murder Kennedy.

53
Sam Giancana connections

• Supposedly upset about JFKs lack of support for
  killing Fidel Castro.

54
Mob continued

• The mob was upset about Robert Kennedys pursuit
  of organized crime.
• RFK was the Attorney General (top cop)

55
The mafia did not kill JFK

• The FBI had the Chicago mafias phone tapped and
  their offices tapped for years before 1963. No
  evidence was heard.
• The mafia had no real interest in JFK. Maybe his
  brother Robert, but not the President.

56
Did Mob control Oswald and Ruby?

• Oswald was a lone actor, just as he acted alone
  in an attempted murder of a General Walker.
• Ruby knew mobsters, but he was not trusted by
  them.

57
Did Castro Kill JFK?

• Motive The CIA tried several times to kill Fidel
  Castro. Operation Mongoose considered poisoned
  cigars, poisoned diving suits, mafia rub out.

58
Did Castro kill JFK?

• Castro did not have the means to do so.
• Castro wanted the US to leave Cuba alone. An
  assassination would have led to an invasion.
  (Castro said this.)
• Oswald was refused entry into Cuba.

59
Did the Russians kill JFK?

• Motive The USA was a serious rival in the Cold
  War. Killing JFK would provide instability in
  the military and government.

60
Russians killed JFK?

• Why would the Russians risk nuclear war? Having
  LBJ as President would not have benefited
• the Soviets.

61

• OR..

62
(No Transcript)
63
This drawing is also clearly wrong. The entry
wound to Kennedys neck on the drawing on the
left is both too high and too much to the side.
64
The post mortem or autopsy photo on the right
shows the actual location of the bullet entry
wound, as opposed to the official drawing on the
left, which places it too high on the neck.
65
(No Transcript)
66
(No Transcript)
67
(No Transcript)
68
(No Transcript)
69
A drawing of the impact of the second shot fired
according to the Warren Commission. This
would not have been a fatal wound.
70
(No Transcript)
71
Kennedys shirt.
72
(No Transcript)
73
(No Transcript)
74
(No Transcript)
75
(No Transcript)
76
(No Transcript)
77
Criticisms of the Warren Commission

• Many accused the Warren Commission of a cover-up,
  claiming that
• it ignored dozens of witnesses who claimed they
  heard at least one shot from the grassy knoll
• Oswald could not have fired such a poor quality
  weapon so accurately in such a short time (8.5
  secs)
• the magic bullet could not have caused such
  extensive wounds to JFK and Connally and suffer
  so little physical damage
• there must, therefore, have been a second gunman
  firing at Kennedy from the grassy knoll.
• two gunmen means there was a conspiracy

78
The Zapruder film head shot. The spray of
particulate matter (brain tissue) is
clearly moving forward suggesting that it is
reacting to the impact of a shot from the rear
79
Who could have been involved in a conspiracy to
kill Kennedy?

• Top of the list of those who wanted Kennedy dead
  is the Mafia. Kennedys brother, Robert, had
  started a very successful campaign to destroy the
  Mafia in America. With JFK dead, Robert would
  lose all power.
• Southern racists violently objected to Kennedys
  support for Martin Luther King and the civil
  rights movement.
• Top generals in the US army who believed that
  Kennedy was soft on Communism and should have
  invaded Cuba in 1962.
• Aliens involved in a failed attempt to abduct
  Kennedy to put an implant in his brain.

80

• In 1977 the US Senate set up another enquiry into
  the assassination because so many people believed
  that the Warren Commission had done a bad job.
• The Senates Select Committee reported in 1979.
  It agreed with Warren that Lee Harvey Oswald
  fired the shots which killed Kennedy.
• However, it also said that it was likely that
  another gunman had fired and missed from the
  grassy knoll and, therefore, there had been a
  conspiracy.
• The Report concluded that it did know the
  identity of the second gunman.
• Check this website for more information
• http//mcadams.posc.mu.edu/
• home.htm

81

• Assassinated by a lone gunman or by a
• conspiracy, John Kennedy was still the father of
  two young children. John Junior died in a plane
  crash in 1999.

82
Conclusion

• People (including me) believe what they want to
  believe.
• Some want to believe JFK was not killed by some
  lone nut.
• Some enjoy being in the minority opinion.

83
Lets let celebrities die in peace!
84
(No Transcript)
85
(No Transcript)