Kennedy assasination? Conspiracy or lone gunman?

Question

I've just watched a documentary about the Kennedy assasination, and some people think there may have been a second gunman on the grassy knoll. I've seen the photo of the supposed second gunman, the guy in the cop uniform, but I still don't know what to think of it.

What do you think happened? Was it a big scheme to kill Kennedy? If so, who were the conspirators? And why did they want him dead?

Answer 1

I've avoided any public answer to this question for many years now. But I have always had my own feelings about it. I was chairman of the 6th grade elementary school that I attended at the time of JFK's assassination. I still remember it as if it were yesterday.

I remember the teachers and school staff weeping when the news was told to them. The school maintained two minutes of silence, and then we were dismissed early.

I can still recall how my own suspicions about the assassination began to take root even at that early age. As I watched the events being re-broadcast on TV, the first thing that caught my attention was the Secret Service Agent driving the Presidents car put his brake on just before the fatal shot struck Kennedy.

Another thing that threw up a red flag with me, was the fact that Lyndon B. Johnson, the Vice President, was from Texas. It was his "home" state. He would take Kennedy's place upon his death. The third thing that happened that convinced me even more that there was some sort of conspiracy going on, was seeing Lee Oswald on TV saying he was just a "patsy". (In those days that was a well known term that was used to describe what is today known as "a fall guy" or someone to take the blame)

What convinced me even more was when Oswald was being led through the police garage on live TV and Jack Ruby (a known mob figure) shot him dead while he was surrounded with TV cameras, and law officers. (Jack Ruby's real name was Jacob Rubenstein)

Then 4 or 5 years later Ruby himself while in prison, mysteriously contracted cancer and died while behind bars. Too many things were being held back from the public by our government. If everything was on the up and up, they would not have hidden so many facts. Then when JFK's brother Robert was assassinated in California, that convinced me completely. Now even his son John Jr. the little guy I saw standing in the street saluting his fathers casket as the funeral proceeded down Pennsylvania Ave., is dead. I believe that he too was a victim of the same plot. Jackie Kennedy, married an ugly old guy and fled the U.S. after the killing.

She could have had anyone she wanted at the time, but she married Aristotle Onassis because he was filthy rich, and had his own army and owned a private Island.

YES...... there was a conspiracy. Who , what and why we can only guess at for right now. It's true that Kennedy's father Joseph Sr. had links to Lucky Luciano and Myer Lansky back in the days of prohibition and bootlegging liquor. But how that crew could have changed the Kennedy motorcade route the morning of the assassination without the help of someone within the government is impossible. I do know that the mayor of Dallas at the time was the brother of a U.S. Army Intelligence General who JFK had removed from his job. The mayor of Dallas hated Kennedy and he had the power to change the motorcade route forcing it to come to nearly a complete stop as it made a left turn in front of the Texas Book warehouse.

Question: If the route had been changed THAT morning, (which is now a well known fact) how would Lee Oswald (if he really was the shooter) have known to carry a rifle into the building with him, since he had already gone to work before the route was changed?

Question: The major event that supposedly led police to suspect Oswald was the shooting of a Dallas Police officer named JD Tippit. Bullet casings (shells) were supposed to have been found at the scene of the killing that day after the Kennedy assassination. But Oswald carried a revolver NOT an automatic pistol that would eject empty cartridges. How does a revolver eject casings?

Question: If it wasn't known by our own government who the shooter(s) were and who their target(s) were, then why when 2 days after the killing when Lyndon Johnson asked J. Edgar Hoover (Director of the F.B.I) if he were also a target, Hoover responded and said, "No."

Kennedy was loved by many Americans and hated by many more. Not just Americans. His father Joseph Sr., while serving as U.S.Ambassador to Great Britain, told Winston Churchill that the Nazi's were going to defeat England in the beginning of WWII. This coupled with the fact that Kennedy was Irish Catholic (remember that England had been invaded several times by the Spanish backed by the Roman Catholic Church, in an attempt to conquer it and end Protestantism ie: the Spanish Armada in 1588, 1596 and again in 1598) and sympathized with the Irish cause of a free Republic, put the Kennedy family on England's get even list.

When Kennedy flew to Berlin Germany during the start of the cold war and Soviet blockade, he said, "Ich bin ein Berliner." (I am a Berliner *German*) this was only 15 years after the end of WWII. Many former Nazi's still held government offices during that time. This one action put him on notice with both England and the newly formed country of Israel. (During the 1960 Presidential Election JFK was investigated by the FBI for any ties he might have had to the Nazi's in WWII. In 1980, Ronald Reagan was investigated by the FBI for ties to the mafia *Reagan's National Campaign Chairman was actor/singer Frank Sinatra who was the Godson of NY capo Joseph Bonanno*, both were found to be not "linked" according to the F.B.I.)

Who did it? Not Oswald, at least not alone. Why did they? Most likely payback for something or fear of something else.
Luciano, Lansky, Trafficanti, they all had interests in Cuba. They could have blamed Kennedy for not invading Cuba and killing Castro. The CIA tried to hire mob figures to assassinate Castro, why not assassinate the man they blamed for not stopping Castro? Just a small step to the next level of murder?

Was there a conspiracy? You bet your bippy there was. Some member(s) of our own government were involved at some level, and it all centers around "money". (The realm of the CIA)

To sum it all up....... The murder of JFK, RFK and John Jr. was/is a joining of forces not just here in the U.S. but with links to other countries/beliefs. The reasons for the killings may have been different, but the result was mutual. It was all orchestrated by people within the U.S. government.

Answer 2

The conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of JFK are founded upon the fact that a gang 'conspired' to kill and were responsible for the assassination of Abe Lincoln.

The idea that a lone gunman killed JFK was not accepted by many people at the time and is still a bone of contention.

I was in London at the time of the assassination of JFK and had no direct knowledge of what was happening or had happened in Dallas that day. All we got then was news coverage, hours old. Not like the instant news coverage of today.

Delays and comment simply added to the conspiracy theories and ideas at the time. To be open about this, when JFK was assassinated, many people in London assumed it was the work of the KGB or worse.

We have to accept the official line because finding the truth behind the assassination of JFK is going to be impossible. Too many people came forward at the time and said what they said, which muddied the waters so badly that we will never get a clear view of the bottom.

Edit: Jack P above makes a very good case. I am mindeful of the fact that it was the boss of the CIA who took command of the situation in Dallas. He seemed already to be in Dallas as though waiting for something to happen about which he knew already.

We have to remember the cost to the CIA of the disaster of the Bay of Pigs and so on.

We must also consider the role of the CIA. What is it exactly? My own view has always been that it was and remains an organisation which operates independantly of government, for and on behalf of the people. This may sound mad to some readers here, but it is the best way of explaining some of what has happened before and since.

The CIA got hold of JFKs body immediately after the assassination. Almost immediately, Lindon Johnson was sworn in as president.

Edit2: southwind... above is on cue. I would just like to add that what I think was happending was a Protestant attack upon what was becoming an all to obvious Catholic presidency. The South and in particular Texas, is a stronghold of Protestantism in America. It is after all, their revolution.

Answer 3

I watched a show on the biography channel about the Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana. In theory, Joe Kennedy Sr. had previous ties with Giancana and asked him to help use his power to get votes for John Kennedy in the 1962 election, against Richard Nixon. This was done and J.F.K. won the election by a very small margin. Giancana was heard to say after the election, " I'm the man that got J.F.K. elected ". He also said " Now I have him in my pocket ". Giancana expected J.F.K. to turn a blind eye to mob activites. However J.F.K. then appointed his brother Robert to Attorney General, and Robert and John said they were going to take down the mob. Giancana became enraged at this and felt he was doubled-crossed. So they set up Oswald as a patsy, they expected Oswald to be caught and they hired another gunman that Oswald didn't know about, the man on the grassy knoll.
Giancana was quoted in his later days " we took out the wrong man, we should of took out Robert."
I think , knowing the power the mob had in the 60's and what I've read about Joe Kennedy Sr , he was reported to be very involved in bootlegging, that is a plausible theory.
The conspiracy part comes in because the government didn't want the public to know that the mob had the power to do such things, therefore they wanted the public to think Oswald acted alone.

Answer 4

It seems to depend on where you live that influences your idea of Oswald's guilt. A news reporter from Dallas observed that when he visited Ohio a few days after JFKs death, he never met a single person who thought Lee was guilty, everyone from Cab Drivers to Policemen to Hotel workers thought Lee was a fall guy. While in Texas, everyone was convinced of Lee's guilt. There was even a real fear in Texas that Lee would be lynched. All the evidence points to Lee, and the 'Grassy Knoll Gunman' has less credibility than the Loch Ness Monster.

Answer 5

There WAS, indeed, a conspiracy, leading up to the assassination of President Kennedy.

It is clear, - from the famed footage, known, as the "ZAPRUDER" film, - that, the President was HIT, no fewer than THREE times, - and, from his MOVEMENTS, - I would say, that the shots came from THREE DIFFERENT directions!

The FIRST shot threw him FORWARDS, - the SECOND, threw him against the SIDE of the car, - and the THIRD, hurled his corpse, - he was, clearly, already DEAD, from the shots to the HEAD, and THROAT, - into the LAP of his shocked WIFE, - alongside him!

As for WHO, was behind the killing? The FACT is, that, nobody will EVER know!

And, the reason, - or REASONS, - WHY? Again, - we'll NEVER gain access to THAT information!

But, Lee Harvey Oswald was RIGHT, about ONE THING! He WAS just the "PATSY", who was "SET UP" to take the "FALL"!

Jack Ruby, - the man who KILLED Oswald, - was PAID, to "SILENCE" him, - to STOP the REAL culprits from being DISCOVERED! He was unconcerned, about his OWN fate, - because he already KNEW he was DYING, at the TIME!

Answer 6

Watch the Zapruder film very carefully. Kennedy takes a shot that makes him fall back and to the left. That is because he was shot from the front, by a high velocity rifle that shot out part of his skull from the occipital region.
A day later a man called Harper was walking down the same route Kennedy took and in the place where he was shot, Harper found a piece of Kennedys skull. He took it to a friend who was a doctor and the doctor identified this bone as occipital skull bone.
When Kennedy was taken to Bethesda Hospital, an emergency tracheostomy was performed. This was done to cover up the bullet hole in Kennedys neck where the bullet entered from the front. The tracheostomy was NOT necessary as Kennedy was almost dead at the time.
www.celebritymorgue.com has pics of Kennedy on the slab in the morgue and you can see where the occipital bone is missing and Kennedys brain is exposed.
NO shot from the rear would have done that.
The reason Kennedy was assasinated was because he refused to send troops to Vietnam. He had already backed down to the communists over the Cuban Missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs Disaster. Now he was backing down over communist oppression in Vietnam.
Kennedys Vice President Lyndon B Johnson, was over heard at a meeting with the CIA, saying, "You make me President and I will give you your F*****g war"
A few short months later Kennedy was dead, Johnson was President and there were US Troops in Vietnam.
Bell Huey helicopters were going down the financial toilet. Most of the american government had shares in this company and if it went bust, then the government would have a lot of egg on it's face. So to boost share prices and helicopter production, a war was desperately needed. Kennedy refused to give air support to the anti-Castro cubans in the Bay of Pigs disaster, so Vietnam would be the ideal opportunity.
When Kennedy went on national TV to say that the USA would not go to Vietnam, he signed his own death warrant.

Answer 7

Read Norman Mailer's "Harlot's Ghost" and you will know that JFK was assassinated by the Mafia for his failure to stop Castro from seizing all the Mafia's holdings in Cuba.

Kennedy was in the Mafia's debt. They had used their influence with the trade unions to help Kennedy win the mid-west states. This made Kennedy a legitimate target for Mafia reprisals.

Answer 8

i watched the film a few years back starring kevin costner, and i do believe their was more to the story than one lone gunman, you should watch it if you haven't already,i think the CIA have alot of evidence that was never submitted to the enquiry at the time as it would have been a threat to national security but i think it is american law that the CIA have to release any any classified documents after 75 years but this might not end any up being in my lifetime, but it would be interesting to see what their keeping back.

Answer 9

The recent death-bed confession by E. Howard Hunt appears to solve most of the riddles. Hunt claimed he was part of a CIA/Lyndon Johnson plot that ended in Dallas.

Makes a lot of sense. Kennedy was certainly a lousy prez, and during his time in office the CIA paid a lot of the cost, in lives, for Kennedy's poor judgement.

Answer 10

Some people still believe it was a conspiracy. Check this link for evidence:
http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/collections/assassinations/jfk.htm