The Kennedy Assassination

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October 6, 1998 The Kennedy Assassination "It's the most controversial case in modern American history. Did Lee Harvey Oswald kill JFK by himself, or did a conspiracy do it? And if a conspiracy did it, did the conspiracy include Oswald" (McAdams 1)? It is my opinion that JFK was killed by a conspiracy that included another gunmen besides Oswald. The House Select Committee on Assassination (HSCA) formally concluded that at least one shot was fired at President Kennedy from the grassy knoll. The grassy knoll was to the right front of the limousine during the shooting. It was on the north side of Elm Street, which was the street on which the limousine drove when the assassination occurred. The Committee judged as credible the accounts of numerous witnesses in Dealey Plaza who said they heard shots fired from in front of the limousine. Most of these witnesses said shots came from the picket fence on the knoll, while others said shots came from the far west end of the knoll, next to the triple underpass. (Griffith 1) Kenny O'Donnell: A close friend and aide of Kennedy, O'Donnell was seated in the follow-up car. He told former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill during a private dinner that he was sure he had Name 2 heard "two shots that came from behind the fence" on the knoll. When O'Neill noted that O'Donnell had not said this in his FBI statement, O'Donnell replied that he had in fact told this to the interviewing agents but that they reacted by saying he must have been imagining things. "So," O'Donnell continued, "I testified the way they wanted me to"(O'Neill211). How many other witnesses were persuaded or pressured into "testifying the way they wanted me to"? (Griffith 3) A close friend and aide of Kennedy is told he is "imagining things" when he is sure he heard two shots that came from behind the fence on the knoll. This is evidence showing that Oswald did not act alone but acts of a conspiracy are shown to cover up this evidence. All the witnesses that say they have seen and heard gunfire near the grassy knoll can not be all mistaken. This shows there must have been another gunman besides Oswald. Another piece of evidence to show that there had to be a gunman on the floor level is the Zapruder Film. This twenty six-second film of Kennedy's assassination shows the President's head moving forward after the first shot was heard, but moving toward the left after the second shot.

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