We're Still Arguing Over Who Killed JFK

More than a year after I wrote a Substack column on the JFK assassination I’m still getting almost daily — including yesterday and today — a “like” from somebody or a comment about who really committed America’s most famous murder.

I’ve received 78 comments so far and hundreds of “likes” about my coverage of Rob Reiner and Dick Russell’s 10-part podcast, “Who Killed JFK?”

Clearly we can’t let this go. And why should we? Our president was murdered, then his alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was shot down on live TV in front of the Dallas police. And then the whole thing was lamely “investigated” by the Warren Commission, who told us: Don’t worry, it was just that crazy nut job Oswald.

But many of us have read enough to believe that our president was killed by multiple gunmen.

Reiner and Russell, following painstaking research, said it was their “highly educated guess” that these four men were the shooters: Cuban exile Herminio Diaz Garcia; the French hit man John Souetre; Chicago mob associate Charles Nicoletti; and CIA operative Jack Cannon.

As for who orchestrated the crime, Reiner and Russell believe it was the CIA’s Bill Harvey and Charles Willoughby, a former major general in the U.S. Army who got involved with anti-communist groups.

Those of us who retain a gnawing interest in the JFK assassination got our hopes up, at least slightly, when last month more than 1,000 documents about the case finally were released to the public. (Thanks, Trump!) But, no surprise, there were no blockbusters. No smoking gun. (Several thousands documents remain sealed).

This was the irritating headline in the New York Times — “What the Documents Show: Oswald Still Did It.”

Millions of Americans, including myself, beg to differ with that conclusion, which of course echoes the Warren Commission’s whitewash.

Those who have commented on my column “Rob Reiner Names Four Shooters in the JFK Assassination” are passionate in their beliefs. Some of them are so angry that they’re cursing out those who don’t agree with them. Given these high emotions I will not reveal anybody’s full name as I recount their positions. I’m also quoting merely portions of an individual’s comments, as people tend to go on and on about this case.

Sue: “Visited Dealey Plaza this past year and did a tour of the assassination. It was very eye opening and made me realize there is no way that Oswald killed JFK.”

Beth: “We’ll never know who killed JFK but Reiner’s podcast and your article remind us that not all conspiracy theorists are of the dangerous QAnon variety.”

Chuck: “The fact that many of the records of the shooting are still to this day classified is in my opinion solid proof that Oswald was not the trigger man but rather just one of a number of shooters and conspirators who were there that day.”

Thomas: “Oswald acted alone. After 60 years that’s the only conclusion that’s consistent with the evidence.”

Dave: “How is that consistent with the evidence unless you believe in fairy tales and magic bullets?”

Thomas: “I suggest you read Gerald Posner’s ‘Case Closed.’”

Danny: “Posner is a CIA asset! His book is trash! Read Phillip Nelson’s ‘LBJ, Mastermind of the JFK Assassination.’ The CIA was behind it all. Three shots my ass!”

JMon: “It’s not fairy tales. It adds up when you truly dig into it. The problem is that it’s not very satisfying and won’t generate book sales, clicks or listens.”

Terrill: “Let me help everyone out there. No, it wasn’t Castro. No, it wasn’t the Russians. No, it wasn’t the damn mob. Lyndon Johnson made the call with the help of the deep state and government. Kennedy wouldn’t sign off on the Vietnam War. The government needed it to happen. Money, drugs, power.”

Pete: “The fatal headshot was fired from the storm drain on Dealey Plaza. Ballistics experts have confirmed that JFK’s head is blown upwards and to the left, so the shot could not have come from the grassy knoll. The grassy knoll is at a higher level. The driver stopped the car just in front of the storm drain. He was paid to do it in case Kennedy wasn’t dead yet, that’s why he looks backward two times to check. The shooter in the storm drain was Jack Allen Lawrence, who knew Jack Ruby from the Carousel Club.”

Paul: “Hey, (expletive) for brains, why was Oswald in the cafeteria five minutes before the shooting? The motorcade was running 15 minutes later than the scheduled time. If Oswald did the shooting he wouldn’t have been seen five minutes beforehand in the cafeteria by three witnesses. He would have been up in the window, which anybody that’s been to realizes the shot would have been impossible…”

Sourcreamus: “Eight employees who were in the cafeteria between 12 and 12:30 said they did not see Oswald there at the time. Oswald was identified by eight people as the man who shot (Officer J.D.) Tippit, was seen ejecting the cartridges and reloading right after the shooting.”

Paul: “Go (expletive) yourself. Multiple people saw Oswald in the cafeteria. (As for) Tippit, multiple witnesses saw multiple shooters. You are such a lying, sniveling piece of (expletive).”

CManhattan: “JFK and Robert F. Kennedy wanted to rein in (J. Edgar) Hoover’s power, have more control over the FBI and a heavier crackdown on the Mafia…CIA Director (John Foster) Dulles was humiliated after being fired by Kennedy over the failed Bay of Pigs event. Dulles was furious at Kennedy and wanted revenge. Dulles and other high-level CIA operatives were also pissed at Kennedy for his refusal to send in the military for support during the Bay of Pigs…Dulles connected with mob boss Santo Trafficante (Jr.), who was friends with the mob boss Carlos Marcello, who was in turn connected to Jack Ruby…The Mafia was also connected directly to the FBI and Hoover through the FBI agent Guy Bannister. Bannister helped groom Oswald and played a role in placing him as the fall guy…Another assassin group behind the (picket) fence had two FBI/CIA operatives wearing suits and another CIA Cuban exile operative wearing railroad worker clothes with a toolbox. One man in a suit was posing as a look-out with fake credentials keeping people away. The other man in a suit was a shooter. After the shooter hit Kennedy, the rifle was passed to the man in a railroad worker outfit, who quickly disassembled it, placed it in the toolbox and fled.”

Tony: “I watched an interview with a man named James Files and he admitted to being the shooter behind the fence. He explained everything pretty good. He knew a lot of things that only one of the shooters could’ve known. He explained it right down to the gun he used.”

John: “An airman Gilmore fired the kill shot. Another airman J.C. also fired at least one shot. It was a military hit.”

Jerry: “Kill shot from the sewer.”

Dennis: “Reiner got only one of the four hit men correct; Charles Nicoletti. The shooter behind the picket fence who delivered the fatal headshot was James Files, a veteran hit man who worked for Sam Giancana.”

Timothy: Carlos Marcello, Santo Trafficante (Jr.), Sam Giancana, Jimmy Hoffa.”

Ean: On the grassy knoll were E. Howard Hunt, Charles Harrelson (was) the kill shooter.”

Jim: “Eight CIA people have disclosed they helped organize the JFK assassination. This includes E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis, who also went to jail for the Watergate break-in…There were five shooting teams of four CIA/mob people on Dealey Plaza. The team of four at the railroad overpass included Charles Harrelson, normally described as a contract killer for the mob. Another possible shooter in this group of four was called ‘Dimitri,’ who was in an organization used as a front by the CIA. Three of those guys were arrested in a railroad car, posing as hobos.”

James: “The key is knowing that Bill Harvey had his Castro hit team in Dealey…They were double-crossed by someone who knew they would be there, holding scoped rifles in high-rise buildings. When the real assassins did fire, the Harvey team bolted. Oswald was part of Harvey’s logistics team…”

Rick: “The thing that is most difficult for me to swallow is Jack Ruby’s involvement. It was a prototypical mob operation: have a suspect murdered before they can talk.”

Crispin: “I love Rob Reiner but these types of claims are common for wonderful artists that lack the investigational skills necessary to find or approach evidential truth. The Posner book and the Peter Jennings special show that the track of the assassin’s bullets is proven and it is Oswald. There may be some wriggle room to speculate if he planned with others…”

Chris: “Note Reiner’s bait-and-switch. First he promises to name the shooters, then he ends up acknowledging that the Big Reveal is just a guess, no more enlightening than any other theory posited over the past 60 years. If Reiner, like everybody else who’s looked into this case ‘can’t say for a certainty’ what happened, then why is he talking about it at all and why should anyone listen to him? Being famous doesn’t make a person smart and it doesn’t give him any more insight into this case than anyone else.”