The Warren Commission
On this day September 27, 1964, 46 years ago today, the Warren Commission released its report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in Kennedy's murder. The commissions's findings have been characterized as preposterous by several sources and defended by others. They have spawned many conspiracy theorists on the subject.
Officially named the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, it became known unofficially as the Warren Commission from the name of it's chairman, United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. The commission was established on November 29, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22. Its 888-page final report was presented to President Johnson on September 24, 1964, and made public three days later. It concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the killing of Kennedy and the wounding of Texas Governor John Connally, and that Jack Ruby acted alone in the murder of Oswald. The Commission's findings have since proven controversial and been both challenged and supported by later studies.
The members of the commission were:
Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States (chairman)
Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA), U.S. Senator
John Sherman Cooper (R-KY), U.S. Senator
Hale Boggs (D-LA), U.S. Representative
Gerald Ford (R-MI), U.S. Representative (later 38th President of the United States)
Allen Welsh Dulles, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
John J. McCloy, former President of the World Bank
While I try not to editorialize in this community, my visit to Dealey Plaza this summer and a viewing of the famous Zapruder film (embedded below) leads me to conclude that there is no way that Oswald was a lone gunman. The Zapruder film shows Kennedy's head jerk back violently and shows Mrs. Kennedy reach behind him to retrieve a piece of his skull. This clearly shows (at frame 320 and on) that at least one shot came from in front of the President, most likely from the famed "grassy knoll" where witnesses saw a puff of smoke. Oswald was behind Kennedy and couldn't possibly have caused that to occur. (Caution: this video of President Kennedy being shot is very disturbing. If you're sensitive or easily shocked, don't view this.)
Years later President Ford criticized the CIA for withholding evidence from the Commission. Ford said the CIA destroyed or kept from investigators critical secrets connected to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He said the commission's probe put "certain classified and potentially damaging operations in danger of being exposed." The CIA's reaction, he added, "was to hide or destroy some information, which can easily be misinterpreted as collusion in JFK's assassination.
Officially named the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, it became known unofficially as the Warren Commission from the name of it's chairman, United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. The commission was established on November 29, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22. Its 888-page final report was presented to President Johnson on September 24, 1964, and made public three days later. It concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the killing of Kennedy and the wounding of Texas Governor John Connally, and that Jack Ruby acted alone in the murder of Oswald. The Commission's findings have since proven controversial and been both challenged and supported by later studies.
The members of the commission were:
Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States (chairman)
Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA), U.S. Senator
John Sherman Cooper (R-KY), U.S. Senator
Hale Boggs (D-LA), U.S. Representative
Gerald Ford (R-MI), U.S. Representative (later 38th President of the United States)
Allen Welsh Dulles, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
John J. McCloy, former President of the World Bank
While I try not to editorialize in this community, my visit to Dealey Plaza this summer and a viewing of the famous Zapruder film (embedded below) leads me to conclude that there is no way that Oswald was a lone gunman. The Zapruder film shows Kennedy's head jerk back violently and shows Mrs. Kennedy reach behind him to retrieve a piece of his skull. This clearly shows (at frame 320 and on) that at least one shot came from in front of the President, most likely from the famed "grassy knoll" where witnesses saw a puff of smoke. Oswald was behind Kennedy and couldn't possibly have caused that to occur. (Caution: this video of President Kennedy being shot is very disturbing. If you're sensitive or easily shocked, don't view this.)
Years later President Ford criticized the CIA for withholding evidence from the Commission. Ford said the CIA destroyed or kept from investigators critical secrets connected to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He said the commission's probe put "certain classified and potentially damaging operations in danger of being exposed." The CIA's reaction, he added, "was to hide or destroy some information, which can easily be misinterpreted as collusion in JFK's assassination.