He was the model for the “Mr. X” character in the movie “JFK.”
He says that the windows over John Kennedy’s motorcade route should have all been shut. And many conspiracists believe that the absense of such precautions shows sinister “security stripping.” People in authority made it easier to shoot the president.
It certainly sounds plausible enough that windows over a presidential motorcade should be closed. And it seems especially plausible given that JFK was shot from a window of the Texas School Book Depository — something believed by most people who think there was an additional shooter on the Grassy Knoll.
But was it in fact normal for windows over presidential motorcades to be open in 1963? Evidence on that can be found in newsreel footage from the Kennedy presidency, a collecton of which is in the JFK Presidential Library.
We have included some key excerpts below.
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23 March 1963: Kennedy in dedication ceremony for O’Hare airport in Chicago, and then a motorcade through the Loop.
Note the ticker tape parade at the end of the video. A ticker tape parade is impossible unless there are open window from which the tape can be thrown. You can download the video or watch the full-size version here. |
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Kennedy astronaut Major Gordon and parents at the White House, and then joins them in a motorcase though downtown Washington in May 1963.
You can download the video or watch the full-size version here. |
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June, 1962. President Kennedy and Jackie arrive in Mexico City via motorcade in front of enthusiastic crowds. JFK then meets with Mexican president Adolpho Lopez Mateos and tours a low-income housing project.
You can download the video or watch the full-size version here. |
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June, 1963: Kennedy visits Germany, views the Berlin Wall, and then gets a tumultious welcome in Irland.
You can download the video or watch the full-size version here. |
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Kennedy visits is ancestral homestead in Dunganstown, Ireland, and then proceeds to New Ross, where he travels through the streets via motorcade.
You can download the video or watch the full-size version here. |
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