Andrew Hagen

Forty years ago this week, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone. A large number of people falsely believe that a wider conspiracy killed the beloved president. President Lyndon Johnson authorized the Warren Commission to investigate. It discredited all possibilities except Oswald acting alone.

Nevertheless, in the 1990s, after the make-believe movie and exemplary work of propaganda JFK was released by Oliver Stone, the number of conspiracy theorists multiplied.

Some of the facts that I find especially convincing are:

• Three spent shells were found near the window from where Oswald shot. Two bullets were found. Both match the ballistics of Oswald’s carbine rifle, not any other gun. A third bullet grazed a bystander. The third bullet was never found. It may have disintegrated when it hit a concrete berm or wall. No other ballistics evidence was ever found. All the ballistics evidence matches Oswald’s gun, and no other gun.
• A witness saw a man firing a rifle from the sixth floor of the building. That is, he saw Oswald. No witness ever reported seeing another gunman.
• The “single bullet theory,” or what Oliver Stone calls the “magic bullet theory” is frequently criticized because the bullet that caused seven different wounds is supposedly in pristine condition. That is false. The bullet is not in anything like pristine condition. (*) (†)
• The credibility of the evidence has been criticized, but the science of forensics has greatly advanced since 1963. What would be poor handling of evidence today was standard handling of evidence then.
• Oswald was a hard-core leftist, and supported the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba. Oswald was aware that Kennedy launched assassination efforts against Castro. Revenge was apparently Oswald’s motive.
• I have personally visited Dealey Plaza in Dallas, where the assassination occurred. From video clips in news reports and in JFK, I was under the impression that the top floor of the book depository building, from where Oswald fired his shots, was far away from where the presidential car was. In fact, the building is very close. Shooting down into an open car from that building would be almost like shooting fish in a barrel.
• Jack Ruby killed Oswald, but no evidence ties Ruby to the Kennedy assassination. (‡)

Gerald Posner’s book, Case Closed, is the best refutation since the Warren Commission of the conspiracy theories. (§) There may be some factual inaccuracies in Posner’s book. (**)

There are some humorous conspiracy theories. (††)

I’m looking forward to the next book coming out from Vincent Bugliosi. The Charles Manson prosecutor is said to be writing a new door-slamming book on the assassination.

Update: 20 November 2003. There is actually a college class that teaches JFK conspiracy theory, if you can believe that. (‡‡) What has happened to education? Did I wake up one day in another country?

Update: 22 November 2003. Added part about persistent “magic bullet” nonsense. Added to sentence about bullet fragments. Added part about witnesses.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2003 at 19:11 and is filed under History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.