Our beloved Anthony Marsh, viewed with great affection by many for his vast and erudite knowledge of the assassination, has recently stated several times that certain recent claims of mine are claims that I cannot back up with actual statistics. Those claims of mine are as follows:
More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots sounded as if they came from the Dal-Tex building either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots sounded as if they came from the general area of the intersection of Elm and Houston either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots sounded as if they came from the TSBD either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots sounded as if they came from the concrete pergola between the TSBD and the fence on the knoll either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots sounded as if they came from the fence on the knoll either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots sounded as if they came from the railroad tracks either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots sounded as if they came from the Triple Underpass either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
In fact, no matter what direction was named, or how that direction was described or worded, when one looks at all the witnesses who named that same direction, more than 90% of them either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from that direction, or else named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled.
In addition, less than 10% of these witnesses specifically said that any individual shot sounded louder and or closer than any of the other shots, no matter where they were standing, and no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
Now, yes, yes, yes, you will find *some* witnesses who gave *different* opinions in *different* statements made at *different* times. For example, you might have a witness who in her/his earliest statement said all the shots sounded as if they came from the Triple Underpass, and then in a later statement said all the shots sounded as if they came from the railroad tracks *north* of the Triple Underpass. But in each individual statement the witness is still naming a single direction, not multiple directions, for ALL of the gunfire. The witness has simply changed the description of WHICH single direction ALL of the gunfire sounded as if it came from. That is hardly the same thing as the witness claiming the gunfire sounded as if it came from multiple directions.
And yes, yes, yes, you'll find a *few* witnesses who named only one direction in earlier statements, but then named multiple directions in later statements. But even including those it still won't get you up to as many as 10% of these witnesses saying this.
You will also find a few witnesses (and believe me, I already know who they are), who said the shots came from EITHER this direction OR that direction. But that's not at all the same thing as saying the shots sounded as if they came from multiple directions, because the witness would have to say that they sounded as if they came from this direction AND that direction, not this direction OR that direction.
The only possible way to prove me wrong on any of this, the only *possible* way, is to quote *more* than 10% of these witnesses, along with the original source of the quote so that we can all independently verify beyond your word that it really is an accurate quotation, specifically naming multiple directions for the gunfire in a *single* statement from a *single* original source. And regarding my other claim, that less than 10% specifically said that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer than the others, the same thing would have to be done. I've been reading this newsgroup since October 2002, and although admittedly there have been some periods between 2005 and this past August when I have not read this newsgroup for months at a time, I've still read many thousands of articles here, and not even one time, not even once, have I ever seen any poster name more than a handful of witnesses, numbering in the single-digits only (meaning nine witnesses or fewer) who specifically said that the gunfire sounded as if it came from multiple directions, or that any individual shot sounded as if it was louder and/or closer than any other individual shot.
So I now issue a challenge to Anthony Marsh or indeed to any other poster who disputes my assertions in the slightest:
For every witness you quote who named multiple directions for the sounds of the gunfire, I will quote at least nine witnesses who named only one direction for all of the sounds of gunfire. Notice carefully that my use of the phrase "at least" indicates that in some cases I may quote more than nine. And if I'm able to quote nine or more who named only one direction, for every one that you quote who named multiple directions, then I will indeed be quoting more than 90%, and you will indeed be quoting less than 10%. The same challenge is extended for every one you quote who specifically said that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer than any other individual shot: for every one you quote, I will quote nine or more who said no such thing.
The largest single list of Dealey Plaza witnesses, at least that is well-known, seems to be the one compiled by Stewart Galanor, who lists a total of 216 witnesses. He does not, however, claim the list to be exhaustive. For one thing, he only includes witnesses who are fairly well confirmed to have really been in Dealey Plaza that day at the time of the assassination, by photographic evidence, other witnesses corroborating their presence, statements recorded for posterity within the first 12 months following the assassination, contemporaneous police reports confirming these witnesses by name that they were really there or probably there, etc. Thus his list naturally does not include people such as Beverly Oliver, from whom the earliest recorded claim of her being there dates from 1970, or Gordon Arnold and Johnny Powell, from whom the earliest recorded claims of them being there or hearing the gunfire date from 1978. But even if you add them it still won't get you up to 10%, and I warn you in advance that I already know that Gordon Arnold named only one direction for all of the gunfire -- behind him -- and that he also did not say that any individual shot sounded louder or closer than the others, or at least certainly did not say so in his earliest recorded statement as reported by Earl Golz. And Johnny Powell's little bombshell, also first reported by Earl Golz, was simply that from his jail cell he saw two men on the sixth floor of the TSBD doing something with the scope on a single rifle; he did not say that each of the men had a separate rifle, nor did he say that the shots sounded as if they came from multiple directions, nor did he say that any individual shot sounded as if it had a different volume or came from a different distance than the other shots. In fact, in the original newspaper story Powell did not say *anything* about the sounds of the gunfire, not even how many or few shots he recalled hearing.
But even if you add these three witnesses to Galanor's list that still brings the total up to 219. Thus, since 10% of 219 = 21.9, you have to quote an absolute minimum of 22 witnesses who said the gunfire sounded as if it came from multiple directions, and/or said that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer than any other individual shot to have a hope of proving me wrong. And remember, if you use any witnesses such as the three above, others besides me can plausibly dispute them as witnesses who are not confirmed as really having been there that day, since their earliest recorded claims to that effect date from so many years after the assassination. For Johnny Powell, for example, the only way you can confirm that he was really there is to produce an official document showing that he really was in the Dallas County Jail on 11-22-63.
I've been going through all these witness statements for many years, and I can assure all of you that you will be helplessly unable to quote as many as
...
> Our beloved Anthony Marsh, viewed with great affection by many for his
> vast and erudite knowledge of the assassination, has recently stated
> several times that certain recent claims of mine are claims that I
> cannot back up with actual statistics. Those claims of mine are as
> follows:
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the Dal-Tex building either specifically
> said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else
> named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many
> or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the general area of the intersection of Elm
> and Houston either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if
> they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire
> statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the TSBD either specifically said that ALL
> of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other
> direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few
> shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the concrete pergola between the TSBD and
> the fence on the knoll either specifically said that ALL of the shots
> sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in
> their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they
> recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the fence on the knoll either specifically
> said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else
> named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many
> or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the railroad tracks either specifically
> said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else
> named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many
> or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the Triple Underpass either specifically
> said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else
> named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many
> or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> In fact, no matter what direction was named, or how that direction was
> described or worded, when one looks at all the witnesses who named that
> same direction, more than 90% of them either specifically said that ALL
> of the shots sounded as if they came from that direction, or else named
> no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how
> few shots they recalled.
> In addition, less than 10% of these witnesses specifically said that any
> individual shot sounded louder and or closer than any of the other
> shots, no matter where they were standing, and no matter how many or how
> few shots they recalled hearing.
> Now, yes, yes, yes, you will find *some* witnesses who gave *different*
> opinions in *different* statements made at *different* times. For
> example, you might have a witness who in her/his earliest statement said
> all the shots sounded as if they came from the Triple Underpass, and
> then in a later statement said all the shots sounded as if they came
> from the railroad tracks *north* of the Triple Underpass. But in each
> individual statement the witness is still naming a single direction, not
> multiple directions, for ALL of the gunfire. The witness has simply
> changed the description of WHICH single direction ALL of the gunfire
> sounded as if it came from. That is hardly the same thing as the
> witness claiming the gunfire sounded as if it came from multiple
> directions.
> And yes, yes, yes, you'll find a *few* witnesses who named only one
> direction in earlier statements, but then named multiple directions in
> later statements. But even including those it still won't get you up to
> as many as 10% of these witnesses saying this.
> You will also find a few witnesses (and believe me, I already know who
> they are), who said the shots came from EITHER this direction OR that
> direction. But that's not at all the same thing as saying the shots
> sounded as if they came from multiple directions, because the witness
> would have to say that they sounded as if they came from this direction
> AND that direction, not this direction OR that direction.
That's the type of qualifier you should have used early in the debate.
> The only possible way to prove me wrong on any of this, the only
> *possible* way, is to quote *more* than 10% of these witnesses, along
Wrong. In my previous message I demolished your phony 10% figure. You just pulled it out of your ass.
> with the original source of the quote so that we can all independently
> verify beyond your word that it really is an accurate quotation,
> specifically naming multiple directions for the gunfire in a *single*
> statement from a *single* original source. And regarding my other
> claim, that less than 10% specifically said that any individual shot
> sounded louder and/or closer than the others, the same thing would have
> to be done. I've been reading this newsgroup since October 2002, and
Do you really think that everyone is so stupid that they don't catch on?
No matter what the subject will just say 10% every time. "10% of stars are binaries."
"10% of fish are Jewish."
> although admittedly there have been some periods between 2005 and this
> past August when I have not read this newsgroup for months at a time,
> I've still read many thousands of articles here, and not even one time,
> not even once, have I ever seen any poster name more than a handful of
> witnesses, numbering in the single-digits only (meaning nine witnesses
> or fewer) who specifically said that the gunfire sounded as if it came
> from multiple directions, or that any individual shot sounded as if it
> was louder and/or closer than any other individual shot.
> So I now issue a challenge to Anthony Marsh or indeed to any other
> poster who disputes my assertions in the slightest:
> For every witness you quote who named multiple directions for the sounds
> of the gunfire, I will quote at least nine witnesses who named only one
> direction for all of the sounds of gunfire. Notice carefully that my
So damn what? Try refuting Josiah Thompson's study in Six Seconds in Dallas.
> use of the phrase "at least" indicates that in some cases I may quote
> more than nine. And if I'm able to quote nine or more who named only
> one direction, for every one that you quote who named multiple
> directions, then I will indeed be quoting more than 90%, and you will
> indeed be quoting less than 10%. The same challenge is extended for
It doesn't matter what the actual numbers are, you will just say 10% about anything.
> every one you quote who specifically said that any individual shot
> sounded louder and/or closer than any other individual shot: for every
> one you quote, I will quote nine or more who said no such thing.
> The largest single list of Dealey Plaza witnesses, at least that is
> well-known, seems to be the one compiled by Stewart Galanor, who lists a
> total of 216 witnesses. He does not, however, claim the list to be
> exhaustive. For one thing, he only includes witnesses who are fairly
> well confirmed to have really been in Dealey Plaza that day at the time
> of the assassination, by photographic evidence, other witnesses
> corroborating their presence, statements recorded for posterity within
> the first 12 months following the assassination, contemporaneous police
> reports confirming these witnesses by name that they were really there
> or probably there, etc. Thus his list naturally does not include people
> such as Beverly Oliver, from whom the earliest recorded claim of her
> being there dates from 1970, or Gordon Arnold and Johnny Powell, from
> whom the earliest recorded claims of them being there or hearing the
> gunfire date from 1978. But even if you add them it still won't get you
> up to 10%, and I warn you in advance that I already know that Gordon
> Arnold named only one direction for all of the gunfire -- behind him --
> and that he also did not say that any individual shot sounded louder or
> closer than the others, or at least certainly did not say so in his
> earliest recorded statement as reported by Earl Golz. And Johnny
> Powell's little bombshell, also first reported by Earl Golz, was simply
> that from his jail cell he saw two men on the sixth floor of the TSBD
> doing something with the scope on a single rifle; he did not say that
> each of the men had a separate rifle, nor did he say that the shots
> sounded as if they came from multiple directions, nor did he say that
> any individual shot sounded as if it had a different volume or came from
> a different distance than the other shots. In fact, in the original
> newspaper story Powell did not say *anything* about the sounds of the
> gunfire, not even how many or few shots he recalled hearing.
> But even if you add these three witnesses to Galanor's list that still
> brings the total up to 219. Thus, since 10% of 219 = 21.9, you have to
> quote an absolute minimum of 22 witnesses who said the gunfire sounded
In article <5063928...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu>,
Anthony Marsh <anthony.ma...@comcast.net> wrote:
> On 9/26/2012 4:59 PM, John Reagor King wrote:
> > The only possible way to prove me wrong on any of this, the only
> > *possible* way, is to quote *more* than 10% of these witnesses, along
> Wrong. In my previous message I demolished your phony 10% figure.
You did not do anything even remotely like "demolish" it. All you said was that I was wrong, over and over and over, day after day after day, in article after article after article, without giving a shred of evidence to support your claim that I am wrong.
> You > just pulled it out of your ass.
Nope, I got it from the Dealey Plaza witnesses. ;-)
> > with the original source of the quote so that we can all independently
> > verify beyond your word that it really is an accurate quotation,
> > specifically naming multiple directions for the gunfire in a *single*
> > statement from a *single* original source. And regarding my other
> > claim, that less than 10% specifically said that any individual shot
> > sounded louder and/or closer than the others, the same thing would have
> > to be done. I've been reading this newsgroup since October 2002, and
> Do you really think that everyone is so stupid that they don't catch on?
> No matter what the subject will just say 10% every time. "10% of stars > are binaries."
> "10% of fish are Jewish."
Ah, here again you are claiming that I said something that I never said, just like you do several times a day to other posters and to me, day after day after day. I have almost always said that LESS THAN 10% of the witnesses said the shots came from multiple directions. My claim is obviously not *exactly* 10%.
> > although admittedly there have been some periods between 2005 and this
> > past August when I have not read this newsgroup for months at a time,
> > I've still read many thousands of articles here, and not even one time,
> > not even once, have I ever seen any poster name more than a handful of
> > witnesses, numbering in the single-digits only (meaning nine witnesses
> > or fewer) who specifically said that the gunfire sounded as if it came
> > from multiple directions, or that any individual shot sounded as if it
> > was louder and/or closer than any other individual shot.
> > So I now issue a challenge to Anthony Marsh or indeed to any other
> > poster who disputes my assertions in the slightest:
> > For every witness you quote who named multiple directions for the sounds
> > of the gunfire, I will quote at least nine witnesses who named only one
> > direction for all of the sounds of gunfire. Notice carefully that my
> So damn what? Try refuting Josiah Thompson's study in Six Seconds in > Dallas.
Why? He also said that less than 10% of the witnesses said the shots came from multiple directions. So I have nothing to refute. :P
> > use of the phrase "at least" indicates that in some cases I may quote
> > more than nine. And if I'm able to quote nine or more who named only
> > one direction, for every one that you quote who named multiple
> > directions, then I will indeed be quoting more than 90%, and you will
> > indeed be quoting less than 10%. The same challenge is extended for
> It doesn't matter what the actual numbers are, you will just say 10% > about anything.
You yourself, in your very first reply to me on this particular issue on September 18, quoted me verbatim saying this:
"In fact, no matter what direction each witness named, and no matter how each witness worded it, when one looks at all the other witnesses who named that same direction, no matter how many different years their statements date from, more than 90% either specifically said that ALL of the gunfire came from that same direction, or else named no second (or third or fourth) direction in their entire statements."
Immediately above that you also quoted seven of my sentences in a row which all began with "More than 90%":
So you have no legitimate excuse to have not known from the beginning, nine days ago, that my argument was not *exactly* 90% but *more* *than* 90%, and thus you have no legitimate excuse not to have already been clear for the past nine days that my argument is quite obviously that *less* *than* 10% of the witnesses said shots came from multiple directions, not 10% exactly.
Yet again, as you so often do, several times a day, every day, you act as if I and other posters are making different arguments from what we're actually making. I'm not sure I've ever seen any other poster here in the past decade concoct strawmen nearly as often as you; in fact it may be that you concoct strawmen more often than all other posters combined.
> > every one you quote who specifically said that any individual shot
> > sounded louder and/or closer than any other individual shot: for every
> > one you quote, I will quote nine or more who said no such thing.
> > The largest single list of Dealey Plaza witnesses, at least that is
> > well-known, seems to be the one compiled by Stewart Galanor, who lists a
> > total of 216 witnesses. He does not, however, claim the list to be
> > exhaustive. For one thing, he only includes witnesses who are fairly
> > well confirmed to have really been in Dealey Plaza that day at the time
> > of the assassination, by photographic evidence, other witnesses
> > corroborating their presence, statements recorded for posterity within
> > the first 12 months following the assassination, contemporaneous police
> > reports confirming these witnesses by name that they were really there
> > or probably there, etc. Thus his list naturally does not include people
> > such as Beverly Oliver, from whom the earliest recorded claim of her
> > being there dates from 1970, or Gordon Arnold and Johnny Powell, from
> > whom the earliest recorded claims of them being there or hearing the
> > gunfire date from 1978. But even if you add them it still won't get you
> > up to 10%, and I warn you in advance that I already know that Gordon
> > Arnold named only one direction for all of the gunfire -- behind him --
> > and that he also did not say that any individual shot sounded louder or
> > closer than the others, or at least certainly did not say so in his
> > earliest recorded statement as reported by Earl Golz. And Johnny
> > Powell's little bombshell, also first reported by Earl Golz, was simply
> > that from his jail cell he saw two men on the sixth floor of the TSBD
> > doing something with the scope on a single rifle; he did not say that
> > each of the men had a separate rifle, nor did he say that the shots
> > sounded as if they came from multiple directions, nor did he say that
> > any individual shot sounded as if it had a different volume or came from
> > a different distance than the other shots. In fact, in the original
> > newspaper story Powell did not say *anything* about the sounds of the
> > gunfire, not even how many or few shots he recalled hearing.
> > But even if you add these three witnesses to Galanor's list that still
> > brings the total up to 219. Thus, since 10% of 219 = 21.9, you have to
> > quote an absolute minimum of 22 witnesses who said the gunfire sounded
> No, not I. I never claimed that 22 witnesses said that the shots came
> from two different directions.
I never said you did claim that. Another strawman, Anthony. What you have claimed, falsely, is that I'm wrong when I say less than 10% of the witnesses said the shots came from multiple directions.
> Tink say 4 witnesses. Do you think that is 4 out of 219? No. Tink said > only 64 witnesses reported a direction. So 4 witnesses out of 64 is > 6.25%.
6.25% is indeed less than 10%, Anthony. Did you not know that before today?
> This is what you never do, back up your claims with facts.
You have just confirmed that I was right all along when I said less than 10%. Since you knew I wasn't wrong, why did you claim I was?
> You > simply guess your way through life.
No, that's what you do. You "guess" that my argument is *exactly* 10%, ignoring and ignoring and ignoring all the times that I preceded that with the words "less than."
> > as if it came from multiple directions, and/or said that any individual
> > shot sounded louder and/or closer than any other individual shot to have
> > a hope of proving me wrong. And remember, if you use any witnesses such
> > as the three above, others besides me can plausibly dispute them as
> > witnesses who are not confirmed as really having been there that day,
> > since their earliest recorded claims to that effect date from so many
> > years after the assassination. For Johnny Powell, for example, the only
> > way you can confirm that he was really there is to produce an official
> > document showing that he really was in the Dallas County Jail on
> > 11-22-63.
> And when did I mention Johnny Powell?
When did I *say* you mentioned Johnny Powell? Oh that's right, never.
And you also have no excuse to "not know" that I was addressing others besides you, even though your name is in the Subject line. In your reply you quoted me saying that this thread is addressed to everybody, not you only.
Another strawman, Anthony.
> Maybe you think you can trick me into naming Gordon Arnold or Beverly > Oliver or Ernest Brant. Silly.
I was addressing anyone who might respond who might use those witnesses, Anthony, not just you.
Another strawman.
> Do you want to start challenging the witnesses I list? This could be fun.
> Since I know that you don't have a copy of Six Seconds in Dallas
Well, I've only seen one reply in this thread so far, from Mr. Marsh himself, and so far all he's done is to once again falsely claim that I'm wrong while directly contradicting himself by posting the findings of another researcher who did indeed give a figure of under 10% for the witnesses who said the shots came from multiple directions, which of course is entirely consistent with my own claims at the beginning of this thread. And so far I do not yet see any article by anyone in this thread who has quoted even one witness who said the shots came from multiple directions, or said that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer than the other shots. So I will now do exactly what I said I would do.
I very specifically said that I would quote nine or more witnesses who didn't say the shots came from multiple directions and didn't say there was any difference in volume and/or distance for each witness that WAS quoted by another poster saying otherwise. As not one such witness has been quoted yet, by anyone in this thread, in precise consistency with no difference whatsoever from the criteria I set for myself at the beginning, I do not yet have to quote nine.
Because I'm still waiting for someone, anyone to quote one on the other side.
Obviously. ;-)
So I shall start today with just one witness who didn't say the shots came from multiple directions and didn't say that there was any difference in volume and/or distance.
Victoria Adams, FBI report, 11-24-63:
"They observed the motorcade as it approached and began passing in front of her window and at about 12:30 PM, as the car containing President KENNEDY, Governor CONNALLY and his wife, was passing, she heard three loud reports which she first thought to be fire crackers of a crank and she believed the sound came from toward the right of the building, rather than from the left and above as it must have been according to subsequent information disseminated by the news services."
Victoria Adams, WC testimony, April 7, 1964:
**********
Miss ADAMS - And from our vantage point we were able to see what the President's wife was wearing, the roses in the car, and things that would attract men's attention. Then we heard---then we were obstructed from the view.
Mr. BELIN - By what?
Miss ADAMS - A tree, and we heard a shot, and it was a pause, and then a second shot, and then a third shot. It sounded like a firecracker or a cannon at a football game, it seemed as if it came from the right below rather than from the left above.
**********
In both statements it is said that the gunfire came from the right (or "the right below") and no other direction is named. There is also no mention of any difference in volume and/or distance for any of the shots.
If by tomorrow I see that someone, anyone, has quoted a witness or witnesses who did say that the shots came from multiple directions and/or did say that at least one of the shots was of a different volume and/or distance, I will bring my total up to nine or more for each of those witnesses quoted.
Hmm.. if I actually accused you of being Reitzes, I can see why. You both seem to subscribe to the "never use 5 words when a hundred will do." principle:-)
I am quite amazed however, by your claim that exactly 90% of each of these groups gave consistent answers. What is even more amazing is, that after writing such a long winded article, you make no attempt whatsoever, to prove it.
John Reagor King wrote:
> Our beloved Anthony Marsh, viewed with great affection by many for his
> vast and erudite knowledge of the assassination, has recently stated
> several times that certain recent claims of mine are claims that I
> cannot back up with actual statistics. Those claims of mine are as
> follows:
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the Dal-Tex building either specifically
> said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else
> named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many
> or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the general area of the intersection of Elm
> and Houston either specifically said that ALL of the shots sounded as if
> they came from there, or else named no other direction in their entire
> statements, no matter how many or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the TSBD either specifically said that ALL
> of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other
> direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how few
> shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the concrete pergola between the TSBD and
> the fence on the knoll either specifically said that ALL of the shots
> sounded as if they came from there, or else named no other direction in
> their entire statements, no matter how many or how few shots they
> recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the fence on the knoll either specifically
> said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else
> named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many
> or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the railroad tracks either specifically
> said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else
> named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many
> or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> More than 90% of all the Dealey Plaza witnesses who said that shots
> sounded as if they came from the Triple Underpass either specifically
> said that ALL of the shots sounded as if they came from there, or else
> named no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many
> or how few shots they recalled hearing.
> In fact, no matter what direction was named, or how that direction was
> described or worded, when one looks at all the witnesses who named that
> same direction, more than 90% of them either specifically said that ALL
> of the shots sounded as if they came from that direction, or else named
> no other direction in their entire statements, no matter how many or how
> few shots they recalled.
> In addition, less than 10% of these witnesses specifically said that any
> individual shot sounded louder and or closer than any of the other
> shots, no matter where they were standing, and no matter how many or how
> few shots they recalled hearing.
> Now, yes, yes, yes, you will find *some* witnesses who gave *different*
> opinions in *different* statements made at *different* times. For
> example, you might have a witness who in her/his earliest statement said
> all the shots sounded as if they came from the Triple Underpass, and
> then in a later statement said all the shots sounded as if they came
> from the railroad tracks *north* of the Triple Underpass. But in each
> individual statement the witness is still naming a single direction, not
> multiple directions, for ALL of the gunfire. The witness has simply
> changed the description of WHICH single direction ALL of the gunfire
> sounded as if it came from. That is hardly the same thing as the
> witness claiming the gunfire sounded as if it came from multiple
> directions.
> And yes, yes, yes, you'll find a *few* witnesses who named only one
> direction in earlier statements, but then named multiple directions in
> later statements. But even including those it still won't get you up to
> as many as 10% of these witnesses saying this.
> You will also find a few witnesses (and believe me, I already know who
> they are), who said the shots came from EITHER this direction OR that
> direction. But that's not at all the same thing as saying the shots
> sounded as if they came from multiple directions, because the witness
> would have to say that they sounded as if they came from this direction
> AND that direction, not this direction OR that direction.
> The only possible way to prove me wrong on any of this, the only
> *possible* way, is to quote *more* than 10% of these witnesses, along
> with the original source of the quote so that we can all independently
> verify beyond your word that it really is an accurate quotation,
> specifically naming multiple directions for the gunfire in a *single*
> statement from a *single* original source. And regarding my other
> claim, that less than 10% specifically said that any individual shot
> sounded louder and/or closer than the others, the same thing would have
> to be done. I've been reading this newsgroup since October 2002, and
> although admittedly there have been some periods between 2005 and this
> past August when I have not read this newsgroup for months at a time,
> I've still read many thousands of articles here, and not even one time,
> not even once, have I ever seen any poster name more than a handful of
> witnesses, numbering in the single-digits only (meaning nine witnesses
> or fewer) who specifically said that the gunfire sounded as if it came
> from multiple directions, or that any individual shot sounded as if it
> was louder and/or closer than any other individual shot.
> So I now issue a challenge to Anthony Marsh or indeed to any other
> poster who disputes my assertions in the slightest:
> For every witness you quote who named multiple directions for the sounds
> of the gunfire, I will quote at least nine witnesses who named only one
> direction for all of the sounds of gunfire. Notice carefully that my
> use of the phrase "at least" indicates that in some cases I may quote
> more than nine. And if I'm able to quote nine or more who named only
> one direction, for every one that you quote who named multiple
> directions, then I will indeed be quoting more than 90%, and you will
> indeed be quoting less than 10%. The same challenge is extended for
> every one you quote who specifically said that any individual shot
> sounded louder and/or closer than any other individual shot: for every
> one you quote, I will quote nine or more who said no such thing.
> The largest single list of Dealey Plaza witnesses, at least that is
> well-known, seems to be the one compiled by Stewart Galanor, who lists a
> total of 216 witnesses. He does not, however, claim the list to be
> exhaustive. For one thing, he only includes witnesses who are fairly
> well confirmed to have really been in Dealey Plaza that day at the time
> of the assassination, by photographic evidence, other witnesses
> corroborating their presence, statements recorded for posterity within
> the first 12 months following the assassination, contemporaneous police
> reports confirming these witnesses by name that they were really there
> or probably there, etc. Thus his list naturally does not include people
> such as Beverly Oliver, from whom the earliest recorded claim of her
> being there dates from 1970, or Gordon Arnold and Johnny Powell, from
> whom the earliest recorded claims of them being there or hearing the
> gunfire date from 1978. But even if you add them it still won't get you
> up to 10%, and I warn you in advance that I already know that Gordon
> Arnold named only one direction for all of the gunfire -- behind him --
> and that he also did not say that any individual shot sounded louder or
> closer than the others, or at least certainly did not say so in his
> earliest recorded statement as reported by Earl Golz. And Johnny
> Powell's little bombshell, also first reported by Earl Golz, was simply
> that from his jail cell he saw two men on the sixth floor of the TSBD
> doing something with the scope on a single rifle; he did not say that
> each of the men had a separate rifle, nor did he say that the shots
> sounded as if they came from multiple directions, nor did he say that
> any individual shot sounded as if it had a different volume or came from
> a different distance than the other shots. In fact, in the original
> newspaper story Powell did not say *anything* about the sounds of the
> gunfire, not even how many or few shots he recalled hearing.
> But even if you add these three witnesses to Galanor's list that still
> brings the total up to 219. Thus, since 10% of 219 = 21.9, you have to
> quote an absolute minimum of 22 witnesses who said the gunfire sounded
> as if it came from multiple directions, and/or said that any individual
> shot sounded louder and/or closer than any other individual shot to have
> a hope of proving me wrong. And remember, if
> Well, I've only seen one reply in this thread so far, from Mr. Marsh
> himself, and so far all he's done is to once again falsely claim that I'm
> wrong while directly contradicting himself by posting the findings of
> another researcher who did indeed give a figure of under 10% for the
> witnesses who said the shots came from multiple directions, which of
> course is entirely consistent with my own claims at the beginning of this
> thread. And so far I do not yet see any article by anyone in this thread
> who has quoted even one witness who said the shots came from multiple
> directions, or said that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer
> than the other shots. So I will now do exactly what I said I would do.
> I very specifically said that I would quote nine or more witnesses who
> didn't say the shots came from multiple directions and didn't say there
> was any difference in volume and/or distance for each witness that WAS
> quoted by another poster saying otherwise. As not one such witness has
> been quoted yet, by anyone in this thread, in precise consistency with no
> difference whatsoever from the criteria I set for myself at the beginning,
> I do not yet have to quote nine.
> Because I'm still waiting for someone, anyone to quote one on the other
> side.
> Obviously. ;-)
> So I shall start today with just one witness who didn't say the shots
> came from multiple directions and didn't say that there was any
> difference in volume and/or distance.
> Victoria Adams, FBI report, 11-24-63:
> "They observed the motorcade as it approached and began passing in front
> of her window and at about 12:30 PM, as the car containing President
> KENNEDY, Governor CONNALLY and his wife, was passing, she heard three loud
> reports which she first thought to be fire crackers of a crank and she
> believed the sound came from toward the right of the building, rather than
> from the left and above as it must have been according to subsequent
> information disseminated by the news services."
> Victoria Adams, WC testimony, April 7, 1964:
> **********
> Miss ADAMS - And from our vantage point we were able to see what the
> President's wife was wearing, the roses in the car, and things that
> would attract men's attention. Then we heard---then we were obstructed
> from the view.
> Mr. BELIN - By what?
> Miss ADAMS - A tree, and we heard a shot, and it was a pause, and then a
> second shot, and then a third shot. It sounded like a firecracker or a
> cannon at a football game, it seemed as if it came from the right below
> rather than from the left above.
> **********
> In both statements it is said that the gunfire came from the right (or
> "the right below") and no other direction is named. There is also no
> mention of any difference in volume and/or distance for any of the shots.
> If by tomorrow I see that someone, anyone, has quoted a witness or
> witnesses who did say that the shots came from multiple directions and/or
> did say that at least one of the shots was of a different volume and/or
> distance, I will bring my total up to nine or more for each of those
> witnesses quoted.
Victoria Adams? I guess that makes it a Straw Woman Argument. No one suggested Victoria Adams. And I asked you to quote EVERYTHING the witness ever said. You are cherry picking.
Today I see two new replies in this thread, and one of them contains this absolutely false claim:
"I am quite amazed however, by your claim that exactly 90% of each of these groups gave consistent answers."
But we can all plainly see that in my original article in this thread I did not claim *exactly* 90% for anything at all, not even once. The second through the eighth paragraphs all start with the words "More than 90%." Those words also occur in the ninth paragraph. And in the tenth paragraph the words "less than 10%" plainly appear. Nowhere did I claim "exactly" 90% or "exactly" 10% for anything. Nor do I say anywhere that whatever percentage it is *above* 90% is the same percentage. I simply say "more than 90%" for each claim, but never said anything about it being exactly the same for each, such as 91% for all of them, or 92% for all of them, etc. It will obviously differ for each of them, and I've never once claimed otherwise, not even in other threads besides this one. The only thing I'm specifically claiming is that they are all *over* 90%, to varying degrees.
Another poster has said that I'm supposed to quote "everything" with regard to Victoria Adams, and that I only "cherry picked" or some such thing. I'm not entirely sure what that means. It is quite obviously unnecessary to quote her entire WC testimony, for example, because not nearly all of it is about the sounds of gunfire. But I did indeed quote all of her testimony that relates in any way to the sounds of gunfire.
And still as of today at 1:13 p.m. CDT I see no one in this thread quoting a single witness who said shots came from multiple directions, and/or said that the shots were of different volume and/or distances.
So again, going precisely by the criteria I set for myself, I still do not have to quote nine or more yet. So today I will quote my second witness who didn't say anything about multiple directions, or different volume and/or distances.
There is a statement by James Altgens dated the day of the assassination, which is his original AP report. I quote now the one and only passage in it in which anything at all is said about the sounds of the gunfire:
**********
At first I thought the shots came from the opposite side of the street.
I ran over there to see if I could get some pictures. But it turned out to be just more confusion. Police ran in all directions in search of the assassin.
B134DN
I did not know until later where the shots came from. I was on the opposite side of the President s car from the gunman. He might have hit me.
**********
He gave only one direction for the gunfire, "from the opposite side of the street," and said nothing whatsoever about any individual shot sounding louder, or closer, or farther than the others. I now quote all, not almost all, but all passages from his WC testimony in which anything at all was said about the sounds of the gunfire, no matter what it was:
**********
Mr. LIEBELER - And at that point did you take another picture?
Mr. ALTGENS - I made one picture at the time I heard a noise that sounded like a firecracker--I did not know it was a shot, but evidently my picture, as I recall, and it was almost simultaneously with the shot--the shot was just a fraction ahead of my picture, but that much---of course at that time I figured it was nothing more than a firecracker, because from my position down here the sound was not of such volume that it would indicate to me it was a high-velocity rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you have any idea where the sound came from when you were standing there at No. 3 on Commission Exhibit No. 354?
Mr. ALTGENS - Well, it sounded like it was coming up from behind the car from my position--I mean the first shot, and being fireworks--who counts fireworks explosions? I wasn't keeping track of the number of pops that took place, but I could vouch for No. 1, and I can vouch for the last shot, but I cannot tell you how many shots were in between. There was not another shot fired after the President was struck in the head. That was the last shot--that much I will say with a great degree of certainty.
Mr. LIEBELER - What makes you so certain of that, Mr. Altgens?
Mr. ALTGENS - Because, having heard these shots and then having seen the damage that was done on this shot to the President's head, I was aware at that time that shooting was taking place and there was not a shot--I looked--I looked because I knew the shot had to come from either over here, if it were close range, or had to come from a high-powered rifle.
Mr. LIEBELER - When you say "over here," you indicate what? Mr. ALTGENS - The left side of the car.
Mr. LIEBELER - That would be approximately the intersection of Elm Street and the little street that runs down in front of the Texas School Book Depository Building; isn't that right?
Mr. ALTGENS - Somewhere in that direction, yes, sir. But if it were a pistol it would have to be fired at close range for any degree of accuracy and there was no one in that area that I could see with any firearms, so I looked back up in this area.
Mr. LIEBELER - Indicating the buildings surrounding the intersection of Houston Street and Elm Street; is that correct?
Mr. ALTGENS - Yes. What made me almost certain that the shot came from behind was because at the time I was looking at the President, just as he was struck, it caused him to move a bit forward. He seemed as if at the time----well, he was in a position-- sort of immobile. He wasn't upright. He was at an angle but when it hit him, it seemed to have just lodged--it seemed as if he were hung up on a seat button or something like that. It knocked him just enough forward that he came right on down. There was flesh particles that flew out of the side of his head in my direction from where I was standing, so much so that it indicated to me that the shot came out of the left side of his head. Also, the fact that his head was covered with blood, the hairline included, on the left side all the way down, with no blood on his forehead or face--- suggested to me, too, that the shot came from the opposite side, meaning in the direction of this Depository Building, but at no time did I know for certain where the shot came from.
..........
Mr. LIEBELER - You are quite sure in your mind, however, that there were no shots, a noise that sounded like shots, prior to the time at which you took the picture that has been marked Commission Exhibit No. 203; is that correct?
Mr. ALTGENS - No, sir; I did not--you see----all of these shots sounded the same. If you heard one you would recognize the other shots and these were all the same. It was a pop that I don't believe I could identify it any other way than as a firecracker and this particular picture was made at the time the first firecracker noise was heard by me.
**********
Here his direction for the gunfire has changed from the AP report: instead of the opposite side of the street, now he was saying all the shots came "from behind the car," and no other direction. He also specifically said that all the shots sounded the same, and there is certainly nothing approaching a claim of any different volume or distance for any of the shots.
On Sep 27, 10:29 pm, Robert Harris <bobharri...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I am quite amazed however, by your claim that exactly 90% of each of
> these groups gave consistent answers.
Of course I addressed this yesterday, and do so again today. Nowhere in my first article in this thread did I claim "exactly 90%" for anything.
We can all plainly see that in eight different paragraphs I specifically said "more than 90%," and nowhere in my entire article did I even say that it would be the same percentage *over* 90% for each group, such as 91% for all of them, or 92% for all of them, or 93% for all of them, etc. Obviously it's going to vary somewhat from group to group, and I never gave even the most meager hint imaginable to the contrary. All I'm saying is that they're all over 90%, some by more, some by less.
Ok, so as of 11:27 a.m. CDT today I still do not see a single quotation by anyone in this thread of any witness who specifically said that the shots came from multiple directions, and/or specifically said that any individual shot sounded closer or farther than any of the other shots.
So I shall now continue quoting witnesses who said neither.
The next witness is Danny Arce, another employee who worked in the Depository as an order filler, similar to the assignment given to Oswald. In his affidavit on the same day of the assassination, witnessed by the ubiquitous notary public Mary Rattan, whose signature is seen on many other such affidavits submitted in this case, there is no mention in the entire document of what direction Mr. Arce thought the sounds of gunfire came from, which can easily be confirmed by anyone looking at the photocopies of the original online, not only where it is reproduced in CE 2003, but also where photocopies are produced of both his handwritten version, and the typed version, in the City of Dallas Archives.
The next document relating to Mr. Arce also dates from the same day, the day of the assassination, and this is an FBI report on him. Unlike the FBI report on Ms. Adams above, here he appears to have been quoted verbatim in his own words; however, like his affidavit taken the same day, there is no mention at all of where he thought the gunfire came from.
The next document is CE 1381, a document containing statements from most, if not all surviving persons (obviously not including Oswald, who by March, 1964 was long deceased) who worked in any capacity whatsoever in the Depository. They were all asked to indicate whether or not they saw Oswald at any time on the day of the assassination, and if so where and when, whether or not they returned to the Depository after the shooting for the remainder of the day and if so at what time, and whether or not they saw any strange or suspicious persons in the building at any time during the day, though in their statements not all of them answered all of these questions. In his own statement, dated March 18, 1964, Mr. Arce said this about what direction he thought the gunfire had come from:
To the best of my knowledge there were three shots and they came from the direction of the railroad tracks near the parking lot at the west end of the Depository building.
So here again we have a witness saying that all the shots, not some of them, but all of them, sounded as if they came from a single direction.
On April 7, 1964, Mr. Arce testified for the Warren Commission, in what is by far the lengthiest statement in his entire lifetime recorded in any form, audio or written, that I know of, regarding the assassination.
Before I get to what he said about where he thought the gunfire came from, I cannot resist quoting this little tidbit from very near the beginning of the testimony:
Mr. BALL. Will you tell me something about yourself, where you were born and where you went to school? Mr. ARCE. I was born here in Dallas and I went to Stephen F. Foster Elementary school and Alex W. Spence Junior High and Crozier Tech. Mr. BALL. Then what did you do? Mr. ARCE. Well, I quit school and found a job and worked. Mr. BALL. Where did you find a job? Mr. ARCE.. The first job, well, you don't want--- Mr. BALL. No; Just in general. Mr. ARCE. Oh, I worked as a cook, short order cook and busboy, and just odd jobs at this Rubenstein place on Hall Rubenstein and Sons. I haven't had too many jobs. Mr. BALL. What is Rubenstein and Son, a restaurant? Mr. ARCE. No; kind of an oyster place; they pack them and send them out, I guess. Mr. BALL. What else have you done? Mr. ARCE. That's about all. Mr. BALL. When did you go to work for the Texas School Book Depository? Mr. ARCE. I started in September---September, I believe, the 6th, September 6th. Mr. BALL. Of what year? Mr. ARCE. 1963.
I am suspecting that certain circles might have what is called a ³field day² regarding his mention of the name ³Rubenstein.² Perhaps another factoid in the making?
But back to our primary topic, here are the only two passages from the testimony in which any mention is made about where Mr. Arce thought the shots came from:
Mr. BALL. Where were you standing when you heard the shots? Mr. ARCE. I was standing in front of the Texas School Book Depository. I was on that grassy area part in front. Mr. BALL. You were not on the sidewalk? Mr. ARCE. No, I was on the sidewalk, then I walked up to the grass to get a higher view. and still couldn't see. Mr. BALL. Did you hear shots? Mr. ARCE. Yeah. Mr. BALL. How many? Mr. ARCE. Three. Mr. BALL. Where did you make out the direction of the sound? Mr. ARCE. Yeah, I thought they came from the railroad tracks to the west of the Texas School Book Depository.
Mr. BALL. Now, it sounded to you that the shots came from what direction? Mr. ARCE. From the tracks on the west deal. Mr. BALL. How many shots did you hear? Mr. ARCE. Three Mr. BALL. Did you look back at the building? Mr. ARCE. No, I didn't think they came from there. I just looked directly to the railroad tracks and all the people started running up there and I just ran along with them.
As I assume the reader has already noticed, in this testimony as printed Mr. Arce claimed, just as he did in CE 1381, that all of the shots, not just some of them, not almost all of them, but all of them, sounded as if they came from the railroad tracks. The sole addition here is ³west deal² (it is a common expression here in Texas to say ³deal² instead of ³thing² or ³there² or ³location² or ³object²) but since he preceded that by ³from the tracks,² and since the railroad tracks were indeed, and are still today, to the west of the Depository, it is obvious that his claim here does not conflict in the slightest with that given in CE 1381.
This is yet further evidence that the government did not alter testimony intentionally, since in both statements he was giving a direction that was in and of itself woefully inconsistent with a shooter on any floor of the Depository. But he still said all the shots came from a single direction. Some circles might finally catch on to this and claim that this nevertheless is evidence of the government altering testimony since it still seems to suggest a single shooter in a single location.
However, given the date of the testimony, which is long before the WC had completed its compilation of witness statements, and thus would have no possible way of knowing yet how many or how few witnesses would converge on the claim of all shots coming from a single direction, whatever that direction was, this accusation is also difficult to plausibly sustain.
It's now 12:03 p.m., CDT, Sunday, September 30, 2012.
I do not see any new articles in this thread since the ones I already saw yesterday, and still see no one in this thread quoting a single witness who said the shots came from multiple directions. I also still see no quotation of any witness who said that any individual shot was louder or closer, or more distant, than any other shot.
Quite disappointing, I must say, because I can think of a few right off the top of my head without even having to look them up. It may end up being up to me to quote them after this is all over, lol.
But anyway, I said I would quote nine or more who didn't say either of those things for every one quoted who did, and that if no one quoted any, I would quote at least one per day. So since it has now been four days since I started this thread, I will now quote my fourth witness.
The next witness is Officer Marrion Baker, who hardly needs any introduction to anyone who has read at least one percent of the assassination literature, as he is the officer who has been claimed to be the first member of any law enforcement agency, local, state, or federal, to have encountered Oswald after the shooting. I quote here two documents relating to his view of where the shots came from, beginning with his affidavit, yet another witnessed by Mary Rattan, submitted on the day of the assassination:
**********
Just as I approached Elm Street and Houston I heard three shots. I realized those shots were rifle shots and I began to try to figure out where they came from. I decided the shots had come from the building on the northwest corner of Elm and Houston.
**********
Next I give, as is so often the case with these witnesses, the far more extensive testimony to the Commission, on March 25, 1964, in which Baker was given far more time and latitude than in the affidavit to explain where he thought the shots came from:
**********
Mr. BELIN - All right. Now, tell us what happened after you turned on to Houston Street?
Mr. BAKER - AS I got myself straightened up there, I guess it took me some 20, 30 feet, something like that, and it was about that time that I heard these shots come out.
Mr. BELIN - All right. Could you just tell us what you heard and what you saw and what you did?
Mr. BAKER - As I got, like I say as I got straightened up there, I was, I don't know when these shots started coming off, I just--it seemed to me like they were high, and I just happened to look right straight up---
Mr. DULLES - I wonder if you would just tell us on that chart and I will try to follow with the record where you were at this time, you were coming down Houston.
..........
Mr. BELIN - All right. When you heard the first shot or the first noise, what did you do and what did you see?
Mr. BAKER - Well, to me, it sounded high and I immediately kind of looked up, and I had a feeling that it came from the building, either right in front of me or of the one across to the right of it.
Mr. BELIN - What would the building right in front of you be?
Mr. BAKER - It would be this Book Depository Building.
Mr. BELIN - That would be the building located on what corner of Houston and Elm?
Mr. BAKER - That would be the northwest corner.
Mr. BELIN - All right. And you thought it was either from that building or the building located where?
Mr. BAKER - On the northeast corner.
Mr. BELIN - All right. Did you see or hear or do anything else after you heard the first noise?
Mr. BAKER - Yes, sir. As I was looking up, all these pigeons began to fly up to the top of the buildings here and I saw those come up and start flying around.
Mr. BELIN - From what building, if you know, do you think those pigeons came from?
Mr. BAKER - I wasn't sure, but I am pretty sure they came from the building right on the northwest corner.
Mr. BELIN - Then what did you see or do?
Mr. BAKER - Well, I immediately revved that motorcycle up and was going up there to see if I could help anybody or see what was going on because I couldn't see around this bend.
Mr. BELIN - Well, between the time you revved up the motorcycle had you heard any more shots?
Mr. BAKER - Yes, sir; I heard--now before I revved up this motorcycle, I heard the, you know, the two extra shots, the three shots.
Mr. BELIN - Do you have any time estimate as to the spacing of any of these shots?
Mr. BAKER - It seemed to me like they just went bang, bang, bang; they were pretty well even to me.
Mr. BELIN - They were pretty well even. Anything else between the time of the first shot and the time of the last shot that you did up to the time or saw--
Mr. BAKER - No, sir; except I was looking up and I could tell it was high and I was looking up there and I saw those pigeons flying around there.
..........
Mr. BELIN - Officer Baker, did it appear to you that these sounds that you heard were from the same rifle or from possibly more than one rifle?
Mr. BAKER - I would say they was from the same rifle.
Mr. BELIN - Did it appear that the sounds all came from the same source?
Mr. BAKER - Yes, sir.
**********
In the first passage it is seen that Officer Baker, having gotten so far as to say the shots came from a location that seemed �high,� was interrupted by former CIA director Allen Dulles for the purpose of clarifying exactly where Baker was at this time. Shortly afterward Baker was able to continue his account of the gunfire. The only difference from his original affidavit is that he now said he thought the shots came from the building on the northwest corner of Elm and Houston or the building on the northeast corner. He did not say that shots came from both buildings. He said that he thought they came from one building or the other, not one building and the other. Finally, in the third quotation from the testimony, Baker said that it was his impression that all the shots sounded as if they came from the same weapon, implying that all the shots sounded the same in terms of distance and volume.
As of 11:47 a.m. CDT today, I see no new articles in this thread since Saturday, except mine from yesterday.
I guess no one is ever, ever, ever going to even *try* to prove me wrong.
But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. No one has even *tried* to do it here for the past decade.
Not even once.
Obviously because I'm not wrong.
Not even slightly.
So, since not one person, not one, has even *tried* to quote in this thread even one witness who said shots came from multiple directions (jeez people, even I know some of them totally from memory, and I've even talked about one of them in another thread within the past 48 hours), nor has anyone even *tried* to quote one who said that any individual shot sounded closer or farther than the other shots, I guess that is a tacit admission that I was indeed entirely correct when I said that MORE THAN (never said "exactly") ninety percent of them never said such a thing, and that LESS THAN (never said "exactly") ten percent of them did say such a thing. In fact, it looks like it's a LOT less than 10% (I never once said exactly how much less). So, even the only two people besides me who have posted in this thread, and acted as if I was even slightly wrong about any of this, seem helplessly unable to even *try* to prove me wrong.
So I'll just continue, and continue, and continue to prove myself to be, not almost entirely correct, but ***ENTIRELY*** correct.
Not on *almost* every claim that I made in my first article in this thread, but on EVERY claim, without a single exception.
Our next witness is Virgie Baker, identified in some documents as Virgie Rachley, because she married Donald Baker after the assassination but before she testified to the Warren Commission on July 22, 1964. The first document is an FBI report dated November 24, 1963, where she is of course identified as Virgie Rachley:
**********
At about 12:16 p.m. on November 22, 1963 she left her office and went out the south door of the Texas School Book Depository Building to watch the Presidential motorcade pass. She was standing across the street immediately in front of the building but on the north side of the entrance to the Triple Underpass along which the motorcade traveled. She observed President KENNEDY'S car pass her point of observation and almost immediately thereafter heard three explosions spaced at intervals which she at first thought were firecrackers. It sounded as though these sounds were coming from the direction of the Triple Underpass, and looking in that direction after the first shot she saw something bounce from the roadway in front of the Presidential automobile and now presumes it was a bullet bouncing off the pavement. She stated she did not see president KENNEDY being shot and that she did not realize this was what happened until later.
**********
Being also an employee of the TSBD, she also contributed a statement to CE 1381 on March 19, 1964, now as Mrs. Donald Baker, but there she did not mention what direction she thought the shots had come from. Finally I give next her testimony to the Warren Commission, and again, just like so many of these other witnesses, this is either one of the most extensive accounts, or the most extensive account she ever gave about her recollections of the assassination to be preserved for posterity. I now quote all passages from the testimony in which Mrs. Baker gave any statement whatsoever about the sounds of the gunfire:
**********
Mr. LIEBELER. How many shots did you hear? Mrs. BAKER. Three. Mr. LIEBELER When did you first become aware that they were shots? Mrs. BAKER. With the second shot. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have any idea where they were coming from? Mrs. BAKER. Well, the way it sounded--it sounded like it was coming from-- there was a railroad track that runs behind the building--there directly behind the building and around, so I guess it would be by the underpass, the triple underpass, and there is a railroad track that runs back out there and there was a train that looked like a circus train as well as I can remember now, back there, and we all ran to the plaza--the little thing there I guess you call it a plaza--back behind there this other girl and I almost ran back over there and looked and we didn't see anything. Mr. LIEBELER. When you say the plaza, you mean Dealey Plaza, the area that lies between Elm Street and this little street that runs by the Texas School Book Depository Building; is that correct? Is that what you mean? Mrs. BAKER. Yes, sir. Mr. LIEBELER. After you heard the shots, you ran down the little street that runs in front of the School Book Depository? Mrs. BAKER. Along the grass. Mr. LIEBELER. Along the grass--alongside there, running toward the triple underpass where Elm Street goes, but you were actually running down the little street or alongside the street on the grass, alongside the street that runs right in front of the Texas School Book Depository? Mrs. BAKER. Yes. Mr. LIEBELER. And you say there are some railroad tracks back in there; is that right? Mrs. BAKER. Yes. Mr. LIEBELER. Immediately behind Dealey Plaza away from Elm Street? Mrs. BAKER. Yes. Mr. LIEBELER. And is that where you thought the shots came from? Mrs. BAKER. Yes.
..........
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, you have subsequently heard, I'm sure, and from reading in the newspapers and one thing and another, that it appears that the shots actually came from the Texas School Book Depository Building; is that right? Mrs. BAKER. Yes. Mr. LIEBELER. Does that seem possible to you in view of what you heard at the time? Mrs. BAKER. Well, I guess it might have been the wind, but to me it didn't. Mr. LIEBELER. The sounds you heard at the time did not appear to come from the Texas School Book Depository Building? Mrs. BAKER. No, sir.
..........
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, there has been some speculation that perhaps the shots might have come from right off the triple overpass, from the railroad tracks that go up over the top, were you able to see these railroad tracks at the time from where you were standing down here--when I say, "Down here," I mean the railroad tracks that actually go over Elm Street and Main Street and Commerce. Mrs. BAKER. No, sir. Mr. LIEBELER. You could not see that? Mrs. BAKER. No, sir. Mr. LIEBELER. Did the shots sound like they had come from that area, or did they sound like they had come from the area more around toward the Texas School Book Depository Building and behind Dealey Plaza? Mrs. BAKER. It sounded like it was coming from along in here--it didn't sound like it was too far off.
Mr. LIEBELER. It didn't sound like it was coming, however, directly from the railroad tracks that go over Elm, Main, and Commerce; is that right? Mrs. BAKER. No, sir.
**********
It should also be noted here that, while I did not quote it in the testimony above since it doesn?t appear in any of the passages relating to the direction of the gunfire, that in several parts of the testimony Mrs. Baker also talked about what she thought had been a bullet that she had seen striking the pavement with the first shot, and one can see above that this very thing is mentioned in the first FBI report on her. But notice that in both the FBI report and the Commission testimony it is said that she thought all the shots came from the direction of the Triple Underpass, or at least from somewhere along the same railroad tracks that pass over it, and in the testimony she made it plain that she was referring to the railroad tracks, which do indeed still today go over Elm on the Triple Underpass, and continue more or less north along the west side of the parking lot adjacent to the TSBD, with one branch of the tracks curving around to the east and passing north of the building. And there is no mention at all of any individual shot sounding as if it came from a different distance, closer or farther, than any of the others.
Oh my, it's now been six days since I started this thread, and still not one poster has produced a quote of a single witness who said the shots came from multiple directions, and/or said that any individual shot came from closer or farther away than any other shot. Y'all have *that* much trouble locating that handful of witnesses? Sheesh, even I knew who they were long before I started this thread.
Is this the equivalent of a tacit admission that ZERO percent of the witnesses said such things?
Jeez, it's starting to look like I'm going to have to be the one who quotes them. And it will *definitely* be less than 10%, proving beyond all reasonable doubt that not almost every, but every claim I made in my first article in this thread is absolutely ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT correct.
In the meantime, due to this failure of anyone else to even *try* to quote a single witness who said those things, I'll just keep going in my quotations of witnesses who said all the shots came from a single direction, or at least named only one direction in their entire statements for any of the shots, and made no mention of any shot sounding as if it came from closer or farther away than the others, with some of the witnesses even specifically saying that all the shots *did* sound as if they all came from exactly the same distance away from wherever the witness was situated.
We come next to Officer Welcome Barnett of the Dallas Police Department.
In the third paragraph of his July 16, 1964 statement, reproduced in CE 1358, he said that he ³checked the Texas Depository Building around 11:00 a.m.,² and in fact this is the only building he named in the entire statement. In the next and final paragraph, which is the only one which has anything to do with the gunfire, he said:
**********
When the shots were fired, I looked up and could not see anyone or anything extending out of the windows. I thought the shots were coming from the top of the building.
**********
Only a week later, on July 23, 1964, he testified before the Warren Commission:
**********
Mr. LIEBELER - Did you have an opinion when you heard the shots as to where they came from? Mr. BARNETT - Yes sir. Mr. LIEBELER - What did you think about them? Mr. BARNETT - When the first shot was fired, I thought it was a firecracker, and I looked across the street. In fact, I scanned the whole area to see where people would jump or move or make some action. Mr. LIEBELER - You couldn't tell specifically where it had come from? Mr. BARNETT - Not the first one, but I thought it was a firecracker. But none of the people moved or took any action, whereas they would have if a firecracker went off. And when the second shot was fired, it sounded high. The sound of the second one seemed to me like it was coming from up high, and I looked up at the building and I saw nothing in the windows. In fact, I couldn't even see any windows at that time. Mr. LIEBELER - In the Texas School Book Depository? Mr. BARNETT - No, sir; because I was standing to close, was the reason. And I looked back again at the crowd, and the third shot was fired. And I looked up again, and I decided it had to be on top of that building. To me it is the only place the sound could be coming from.
..........
Mr. LIEBELER - So you were pretty sure fairly quickly that the shots had come from the Texas School Book Depository? Mr. BARNETT - Yes, sir. Mr. LIEBELER - There was no notion in your mind that they could have come from these railroad tracks down here around the triple underpass? Mr. BARNETT - To me, it is impossible. Mr. LIEBELER - From the sound of the shots? Mr. BARNETT - The sounds were high, and if it was down here, it wouldn't echo. It would be a low sound. For a shot to echo, it has to be high up. Mr. LIEBELER - You mean to hang? Mr. BARNETT - To hang like that.
**********
In the first quoted passage from the testimony, Officer Barnett said that when the first shot was fired he was not initially certain where it had sounded as if it came from, but made it clear that by the time the last shot was fired he had come to believe it had originated from the top of the Depository building, which is of course the location he also gave a week earlier. And notice carefully that he did not on either occasion specifically say that he thought any individual shot came from anywhere else; he is yet another witness who named only one location for any of the sounds of gunfire. Nor is there the slightest mention of any shot sounding as if it had a different volume, or came from a greater or lesser distance than the other shots.
In article <3e559123-9ea5-404d-ae7a-409129102c25@googlegroups.com>,
"pjspe...@AOL.COM" <pjspe...@aol.com> wrote:
> FWIW, Chapters 5 thru 9 at patspeer.com is far and way the largest > collection of witness statements yet assembled.
I do indeed see some there who are not on Galanor's list. Few of them, however, are witnesses that I didn't already know about.
> I don't specifically break > them down by the perceived direction of the shots, except briefly in the > last chapter, where I note that the vast majority of witnesses standing in > front of the TSBD thought the last shot came from west of their location.
That is misleading. The vast majority of those witnesses thought ALL the shots came from west of their location, not the last shot only. I'm looking right now through the witnesses you quoted in those chapters and all, or nearly all, of the ones you quoted who said anything about that direction specifically said ALL the shots came from that direction, or else named no other direction in the entirety of what you quoted. If I'm wrong, please post here the names of the witnesses who specifically said that ONLY the last shot came from west of their location so that I may look through those chapters again and see if you really quoted them saying so or not.
So everyone, it has now been one week since I started this thread, and still not one poster in this thread has actually quoted a single witness who specifically said that the shots came from multiple directions. Nor has anyone in this thread quoted a single witness who specifically said that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer, or more distant, than any other shot. So I will continue my own quotations of witnesses who specifically said that all the shots came from a single direction, or else named only one direction in their entire statements for all of the sounds of gunfire, and who said nothing about any difference in volume and/or distance, or else specifically said that all the shots sounded of equal volume and or distance.
Today I quote my seventh witness:
The next witness is Secret Service Agent Glenn Bennett, who with several other agents was riding in the car behind the Presidential limousine.
His handwritten notes dated the day of the assassination, which in some places are difficult to read, are reproduced in CE 2112. I give now the one passage relating directly to the gunfire:
**********
At this point I heard a noise that immediately reminded me of a fire cracker. I immediately, upon hearing the supposed fire cracker, looked at the Boss?s car. At this exact time I saw a shot that hit the boss about 4 inches down from the right shoulder; a second shoot [sic] followed immediately and hit the right rear high [sic] of the Boss?s head. I immediately hollered to Special Agent Hickey, seated in the same seat, to get the AR-15. I drew my revolver and looked to the rear and to the left [inserted above: ?high,? and another word I cannot make out] but was unable to see any one person that could have rendered this terrible tragedy. The President?s auto immediate [sic] kicked into high gear and the follow-up car departed [therein (?)].
**********
The following day, Agent Bennett submitted his official report, and this is what is said there about the shooting:
**********
About thirty minutes after leaving Love Field about 12:25 P.M., the Motorcade entered an intersection and then proceeded down a grade. At this point the well-wishers numbered but a few; the motorcade continued down this grade enroute to the Trade Mart. At this point I heard what sounded like a fire-cracker. I immediately looked from the right/crowd/physical area/and looked towards the President who was seated in the right rear seat of his limousine open convertible. At the moment I looked at the back of the President I heard another fire-cracker noise and saw the shot hit the President about four inches down from the right shoulder. A second shot followed immediately and hit the right rear high of the President's head. I immediately hollered "he's hit'' and reached for the AR-15 located on the floor of the rear seat. Special Agent Hickey had already picked-up the AR-I5. We peered towards the rear and particularly the right side of the area. I had drawn my revolver when I saw S/A Hickey had the AR15. I was unable to see anything or one that could have fired the shots. The President's car immediately kicked into high gear and the follow-up car followed.
**********
It is seen that in his notes the only indication Bennett gave of a possible origin of the shots was to say that he looked to the left and rear (and possibly ?high?) but saw no one who he thought might have been the shooter. The report of the following day gives an account which is quite similar in essential details, except that now it is said that ?we? (apparently Hickey and himself) looked to the rear and to the right, rather than to the left. Possibly this was merely the common mistake of accidentally saying left or right when meaning the opposite, as is articulated in the common expression, ?No, your other left.? Other than this, however, it does not appear that Bennett thought the shots came from multiple directions, nor did he in either account make any mention of any individual shot sounding as if it had any difference in volume and/or distance than the other shots.
> In article <3e559123-9ea5-404d-ae7a-409129102c25@googlegroups.com>,
> "pjspe...@AOL.COM" <pjspe...@aol.com> wrote:
>> FWIW, Chapters 5 thru 9 at patspeer.com is far and way the largest
>> collection of witness statements yet assembled.
> I do indeed see some there who are not on Galanor's list. Few of them,
> however, are witnesses that I didn't already know about.
>> I don't specifically break
>> them down by the perceived direction of the shots, except briefly in the
>> last chapter, where I note that the vast majority of witnesses standing in
>> front of the TSBD thought the last shot came from west of their location.
> That is misleading. The vast majority of those witnesses thought ALL the
> shots came from west of their location, not the last shot only. I'm
"Vast majority" and "all"? What happened to your world famous 90%?
> looking right now through the witnesses you quoted in those chapters and
> all, or nearly all, of the ones you quoted who said anything about that
> direction specifically said ALL the shots came from that direction, or
> else named no other direction in the entirety of what you quoted. If I'm
> wrong, please post here the names of the witnesses who specifically said
> that ONLY the last shot came from west of their location so that I may
> look through those chapters again and see if you really quoted them saying
> so or not.
> So everyone, it has now been one week since I started this thread, and
> still not one poster in this thread has actually quoted a single witness
> who specifically said that the shots came from multiple directions. Nor
> has anyone in this thread quoted a single witness who specifically said
> that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer, or more distant,
> than any other shot. So I will continue my own quotations of witnesses
> who specifically said that all the shots came from a single direction, or
> else named only one direction in their entire statements for all of the
> sounds of gunfire, and who said nothing about any difference in volume
> and/or distance, or else specifically said that all the shots sounded of
> equal volume and or distance.
> The next witness is Secret Service Agent Glenn Bennett, who with several
> other agents was riding in the car behind the Presidential limousine.
> His handwritten notes dated the day of the assassination, which in some
> places are difficult to read, are reproduced in CE 2112. I give now the
> one passage relating directly to the gunfire:
> **********
> At this point I heard a noise that immediately reminded me of a fire
> cracker. I immediately, upon hearing the supposed fire cracker, looked at
> the Boss?s car. At this exact time I saw a shot that hit the boss about 4
> inches down from the right shoulder; a second shoot [sic] followed
> immediately and hit the right rear high [sic] of the Boss?s head. I
> immediately hollered to Special Agent Hickey, seated in the same seat, to
> get the AR-15. I drew my revolver and looked to the rear and to the left
> [inserted above: ?high,? and another word I cannot make out] but was
> unable to see any one person that could have rendered this terrible
> tragedy. The President?s auto immediate [sic] kicked into high gear and
> the follow-up car departed [therein (?)].
> **********
> The following day, Agent Bennett submitted his official report, and this
> is what is said there about the shooting:
> **********
> About thirty minutes after leaving Love Field about 12:25 P.M., the
> Motorcade entered an intersection and then proceeded down a grade. At this
> point the well-wishers numbered but a few; the motorcade continued down
> this grade enroute to the Trade Mart. At this point I heard what sounded
> like a fire-cracker. I immediately looked from the right/crowd/physical
> area/and looked towards the President who was seated in the right rear
> seat of his limousine open convertible. At the moment I looked at the back
> of the President I heard another fire-cracker noise and saw the shot hit
> the President about four inches down from the right shoulder. A second
> shot followed immediately and hit the right rear high of the President's
> head. I immediately hollered "he's hit'' and reached for the AR-15 located
> on the floor of the rear seat. Special Agent Hickey had already picked-up
> the AR-I5. We peered towards the rear and particularly the right side of
> the area. I had drawn my revolver when I saw S/A Hickey had the AR15. I
> was unable to see anything or one that could have fired the shots. The
> President's car immediately kicked into high gear and the follow-up car
> followed.
> **********
> It is seen that in his notes the only indication Bennett gave of a
> possible origin of the shots was to say that he looked to the left and
> rear (and possibly ?high?) but saw no one who he thought might have been
> the shooter. The report of the following day gives an account which is
> quite similar in essential details, except that now it is said that ?we?
> (apparently Hickey and himself) looked to the rear and to the right,
> rather than to the left. Possibly this was merely the common mistake of
> accidentally saying left or right when meaning the opposite, as is
> articulated in the common expression, ?No, your other left.? Other than
> this, however, it does not appear that Bennett thought the shots came from
> multiple directions, nor did he in either account make any mention of any
> individual shot sounding as if it had any difference in volume and/or
> distance than the other shots.
It has now been eight days since I started this thread, and still not one poster in it has quoted a single witness who said the shots came from multiple directions. Nor has anyone yet quoted a single witness who said that any individual shot sounded as if it came from closer or farther away than any other individual shot. So I will continue my daily quotations of witnesses who prove all of my original claims in the first article in this thread to be absolutely correct.
Jane Berry was another TSBD employee, and in the November 24, 1963 FBI report on her, this is said:
**********
At approximately 12:40 p.m., on November 22, 1963, she was standing just west of the building, watching a parade in which President JOHN F. KENNEDY was riding. Just as the car was passing by her, she heard a rifle shot.
A few seconds later she heard a second and third shot. She observed President KENNEDY slump over and everyone began falling to the ground or running. She realized that the President had been shot and observed the motorcade in which he was riding immediately speed off in a westerly direction.
Everyone was very excited and no one seemed to know where the shot had come from. It sounded as if it had been fired from a position west of where she was standing.
**********
We see here an example of something that appears in quite a few of these statements, the use of the singular. The second paragraph refers to ?the shot? and ?it? as if only one of the shots is being referred to as far as the direction. However, notice that in the entire statement there is no mention of any other direction for any of the sounds of gunfire other than ?from a position west of where she was standing.?
Like most of the other TSBD employees, Ms. Berry contributed a statement to CE 1381, hers being dated March 19, 1964. But although there she said she heard three shots, there is no mention whatsoever of what direction she thought they came from, and in neither of these documents is there any mention of any single shot sounding as if it was closer or farther than the other shots.
In article <506d199...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu>,
Anthony Marsh <anthony.ma...@comcast.net> wrote:
> King of the Straw Man arguments.
No, that would be you. You really outdid yourself yesterday when you said this about me:
"You have JFK"s fists up by Z-225 and then the bullet hitting Connally at Z-226."
I'm never again going to take anything you say seriously until you admit that I never said that JFK already had his fists up by Z225. Quite obviously, if you refuse to admit an obvious mistake like that, you have probably made mistakes about the JFK assassination too, which you have also refused to admit.
I call everyone to notice that Mr. Marsh has still not even *tried* to *prove* me to be even slightly incorrect on a single one of my claims that I have made in this thread. He also, yet again, has utterly failed to quote even one witness who said the shots came from multiple directions, and he has utterly failed to quote even a single witness who said that any individual shot sounded as if it came from closer or farther away than any other individual shot.
So I will just continue my quotations of witnesses who said neither of those things, but instead were quite obviously under the impression that all of the shots were fired from a single location, whatever that location was.
The next witness is Hugh Betzner, who took some now-famous photographs in Dealey Plaza before, during, and after the shooting. In his affidavit of the same day, he said this about the shots he heard:
**********
I was standing on Houston Street near the intersection of Elm Street. I took a picture of President Kennedy's car as it passed along Houston Street. I have an old camera. I looked down real quick and rolled the film to take the next picture. I then ran down to the corner of Elm andHouston [sic] Streets, this being the southwest corner. I was standing back from the corner and had to take the pictures through some of the crowd. I ran on down Elm a little more and President Kennedy's car was starting to go down the hill to the triple underpass. I was running trying to keep the President's car in my view and was winding my film as I ran. I was looking down at my camera to see the number of the film as I ran. I took another picture as the President's car was going down the hill on Elm Street. I started to wind my film again and I heard a loud noise. I thought that this noise was either a firecracker or a car had backfired. I looked up and it seemed like there was another loud noise in the matter of a few seconds. I looked down the street and I could see the President's car and another one and they looked like the cars were stopped. Then I saw a flash of pink like someone standing up and then sitting back down in the car. Then I ran around so I could look over the back of a monument and I either saw the following then or when I was sitting back down on the corner of Elm Street. I cannot remember exactly where I was when I saw the following: I heard at least two shots fired and I saw what looked like a firecracker going off in the president's car. My assumption for this was because I saw fragments going up in the air. I also saw a man in either the President's car or the car behind his and someone down in one of those cars pull out what looked like a rifle. I also remember seeing what looked like a nickel revolver in someone's hand in the President's car or somewhere immediately around his car. Then the President's car sped on under the underpass. Police and a lot of spectators started running up the hill on the opposite side of the street from me to a fence of wood. I assumed that was where the shot was fired from at that time. I kept watching the crowd. Then I came around the monument over to Main Street. I walked down toward where the President's car had stopped. I saw a Police Officer and some men in plain clothes. I don't know who they were. These Police Officers and the men in plain clothes were digging around in the dirt as if they were looking for a bullet. I walked back around the monument over to Elm Street where they were digging in the dirt. I went on across the street and up the embankment to where the fence is located. By this time almost all of the people had left.
**********
Mr. Betzner mentioned only one direction for the origin of any shot, the fence across the street, the fence on what later came to be called the grassy knoll, although it seems that he thought this not so much because of the sounds of gunfire, but because he saw people running up to the fence. And again, there is no mention of any shot sounding closer or farther than any other shot.
> I call everyone to notice that Mr. Marsh has still not even *tried* to
> *prove* me to be even slightly incorrect on a single one of my claims that
> I have made in this thread. He also, yet again, has utterly failed to
I have quoted them thousands of times, but every time I do you bury your head in the sand.
> quote even one witness who said the shots came from multiple directions,
> and he has utterly failed to quote even a single witness who said that any
> individual shot sounded as if it came from closer or farther away than any
> other individual shot.
> So I will just continue my quotations of witnesses who said neither of
> those things, but instead were quite obviously under the impression that
> all of the shots were fired from a single location, whatever that location
> was.
> The next witness is Hugh Betzner, who took some now-famous photographs in
> Dealey Plaza before, during, and after the shooting. In his affidavit of
> the same day, he said this about the shots he heard:
> **********
> I was standing on Houston Street near the intersection of Elm Street. I
> took a picture of President Kennedy's car as it passed along Houston
> Street. I have an old camera. I looked down real quick and rolled the film
> to take the next picture. I then ran down to the corner of Elm andHouston
> [sic] Streets, this being the southwest corner. I was standing back from
> the corner and had to take the pictures through some of the crowd. I ran
> on down Elm a little more and President Kennedy's car was starting to go
> down the hill to the triple underpass. I was running trying to keep the
> President's car in my view and was winding my film as I ran. I was looking
> down at my camera to see the number of the film as I ran. I took another
> picture as the President's car was going down the hill on Elm Street. I
> started to wind my film again and I heard a loud noise. I thought that
> this noise was either a firecracker or a car had backfired. I looked up
> and it seemed like there was another loud noise in the matter of a few
> seconds. I looked down the street and I could see the President's car and
> another one and they looked like the cars were stopped. Then I saw a flash
> of pink like someone standing up and then sitting back down in the car.
> Then I ran around so I could look over the back of a monument and I either
> saw the following then or when I was sitting back down on the corner of
> Elm Street. I cannot remember exactly where I was when I saw the
> following: I heard at least two shots fired and I saw what looked like a
> firecracker going off in the president's car. My assumption for this was
> because I saw fragments going up in the air. I also saw a man in either
> the President's car or the car behind his and someone down in one of those
> cars pull out what looked like a rifle. I also remember seeing what looked
> like a nickel revolver in someone's hand in the President's car or
> somewhere immediately around his car. Then the President's car sped on
> under the underpass. Police and a lot of spectators started running up the
> hill on the opposite side of the street from me to a fence of wood. I
> assumed that was where the shot was fired from at that time. I kept
> watching the crowd. Then I came around the monument over to Main Street. I
> walked down toward where the President's car had stopped. I saw a Police
> Officer and some men in plain clothes. I don't know who they were. These
> Police Officers and the men in plain clothes were digging around in the
> dirt as if they were looking for a bullet. I walked back around the
> monument over to Elm Street where they were digging in the dirt. I went on
> across the street and up the embankment to where the fence is located. By
> this time almost all of the people had left.
> **********
> Mr. Betzner mentioned only one direction for the origin of any shot, the
> fence across the street, the fence on what later came to be called the
> grassy knoll, although it seems that he thought this not so much because
> of the sounds of gunfire, but because he saw people running up to the
> fence. And again, there is no mention of any shot sounding closer or
> farther than any other shot.
In article <506f7ba...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu>,
Anthony Marsh <anthony.ma...@comcast.net> wrote:
> I have quoted them thousands of times, but every time I do you bury your
Let's set the record straight, everyone.
First of all, Mr. Marsh knew perfectly well, long before he posted this article, that I did not read more than a very few of his articles between 2005 and about a month ago. He also knows perfectly well why that is: because in 2005 he kept claiming that I said things I never said and then absolutely refused to admit his mistakes even after they were pointed out to him. I decided to give him another chance around the beginning of last month, but I have found he hasn't changed in the slightest. He still frequently claims that I and other posters here have said things we've never said. This of course serves no constructive purpose whatsoever in discussing the JFK assassination, and in fact it is a disservice to any such discussion.
Secondly, Mr. Marsh knew perfectly well long before he posted this article that I was often absent from this newsgroup for months at a time between 2005 and this past July.
Thirdly, it is irrelevant how many times Mr. Marsh has quoted these witnesses. What is relevant is how many witnesses he has quoted. In the past month I have only seen Mr. Marsh name one witness who said that the shots came from multiple directions. But that was in another thread, and he did not actually quote that witness saying so. And I do not recall ever seeing him quote any witness who said that any individual shot sounded as if it came from closer or farther away than any other shot.
So I call everyone to notice again that in *this* thread not one poster, not one, has yet quoted a single witness who said that the shots came from multiple directions. Nor has anyone in *this* thread quoted a single witness who said that the shots came from different distances away from that witness. So I will continue to quote witnesses who said neither of those things.
Let me remind everyone of what I said at the beginning of this thread. I said for every witness who is quoted, along with the original source, saying that the shots came from multiple directions, I would be able to produce nine or more who said otherwise. I am now about to quote my tenth witness in this thread, even *without* anyone having quoted in *this* thread a single witness who said the shots came from multiple directions.
I am already getting ahead of the tiny, tiny, tiny minority of posters in this newsgroup who are the naysayers. Only three posters have so far specifically disputed my claims on this matter in any thread: Robert Harris, Curt Jester, and Anthony Marsh. Not even Pat Speer in this thread made any specific statement that all of my claims at the beginning of this thread are incorrect. That means even the vast majority of CTs alone in this newsgroup haven't disputed me in the slightest on this.
Obviously because they know better.
Witness number ten:
Next we have Officer Eugene Boone of the Dallas County Sheriff?s Department, and his claim to fame is that he is the person who found the rifle on the sixth floor of the Depository. But of course what concerns us here is what he said about the sounds of the gunfire. I give first his report filed on the day of the assassination, which is reproduced in Decker Exhibit No. 5323:
**********
Att [sic] approx. 1pm date I was in front of the Sheriffs [sic] Office at 505 Main St Dallas Texas when I heard three shots coming from the vicinity of where the Presidents [sic] car was, I raced across the street (Main & Houston). The Presidential car and other cars were turning onto Stemmons Fwy. Some of the bystanders said the shots came from the overpass. I ran across the street (Elm) and up the embankment over the retaining wall and into the freight yard and was unable to locate anything.
**********
I advise readers not to trust what any author says about these documents without reading them for yourself. If you go by Galanor?s list you may notice that Galanor puts Boone in the ?Knoll? category. But that isn?t what Boone said here. He said the vicinity of the President?s car, and it should be noted that most researchers agree that the limousine was somewhere in front of the Depository at least when the first shot was fired. Also Boone said that witnesses told him the shots came from the overpass, not that he himself thought the shots came from the overpass.
That also is not the knoll. I have noticed Galanor doing this sort of thing with other witnesses as well. Next I give Boone?s testimony to the Warren Commission, taken on March 25, 1964:
**********
Mr. BALL - On the 22d of November, where were you working? Mr. BOONE - I was working downtown. I was out viewing the parade. Mr. BALL - Where did you view the parade? Mr. BOONE - Right in front of the sheriff's office. Mr. BALL - Had you been assigned a place, a job that day? Mr. BOONE - No. Mr. BALL - You were out in front of the sheriff's office on Main Street? Mr. BOONE - That is correct. Mr. BALL - Near Houston? Mr. BOONE - Yes. Mr. BALL - And who were you with? Mr. BOONE - Officer Mooney was out there, I believe, and several of the office personnel, women in the office, clerk-typist and what have you. Ralph Walters, Buddy Walthers, Allen Sweatt, L. C. Smith. Officer Gramstaff. That is about all I can remember. Mr. BALL - What happened there? Mr. BOONE - Well, it was approximately 1 o'clock when we heard the shots. The motorcade had already passed by us and turned back to the north on Houston Street. And we heard what we thought to be a shot. And there seemed to be a pause between the first shot and the second shot and third shots--a little longer pause. And we raced across the street there. Mr. BALL - You raced across what street? Mr. BOONE - Houston Street. Mr. BALL - You turned to your right and went west? Mr. BOONE - Well, there is a big cement works out there. We went on west across Houston Street, and then cut across the grass out there behind the large cement works there. Some of the bystanders over there seemed to think the shots came from up over the railroad in the freight yards, from over the triple underpass. So there was some city officer, I don't know who he was, motorcycle officer had laid his motorcycle down and was running up the embankment to get over a little retaining wall that separates the freight yards there. He went over the wall first, and I was right behind him, going into the freight yards. We searched out the freight yards. We were unable to find anything.
**********
In both statements Boone was consistent in describing his own actions: in both he said he watched the motorcade from in front of the Sheriff?s office, and then after the shots were fired he ran over to the freight yard. Absent this time before the Commission is his earlier claim of initially believing the shots came from the vicinity of the limousine, but he still said again here that bystanders told him the shots had all come from a certain direction. This time it is not simply ?the overpass,? but instead ?from up over the railroad in the freight yards, from over the triple underpass.? But again he did not say that this was his own impression of where the shots came from, but instead what witnesses told him. And this is not exactly the knoll either. There is also no mention of Boone himself, or any of the witnesses he talked to, saying that the shots came from multiple directions, nor is there any mention of any of them thinking that any of the shots came from a different distance, closer or farther, than the other shots.
It has now been eleven days since I started this thread, and still not one person, not one, has in this thread quoted a single witness who said the shots came from multiple directions. Nor has anyone quoted a single witness who said that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer, or more distant, than any other shot. Only two posters in this thread, and one in another, have made any specific claim that I am "wrong" in any of my claims made in the first article in this thread. But they all seem very reluctant to post in this thread even the most meager shred of evidence imaginable that I am even slightly wrong on even a single one of those claims. So I shall simply continue to *prove* my claims to be correct by continuing to post witnesses who each named a *single* direction for *all* of the gunfire, and who made no mention of any difference in volume or distance in any of the shots.
Witness number eleven:
Another well-known witness in the assassination literature is Lee Bowers, whose statements about the assassination have been used in various ways by various authors, both to support and dispute the idea of multiple shooters. Bowers was in quite a unique position: he was in the railroad tower near the parking lot adjacent to the TSBD, and could see more or less the entirety of the back side of the picket fence that runs along the grassy knoll, and furthermore from a position of some elevation to see over the cars in the lot. There is a report on Bowers from the day of the assassination by Deputy Sheriff Harold Elkins, but most of the document concerns only the issue of the cars in the parking lot, including that Bowers had seen two cars driving through the lot prior to the shooting. There is only one sentence in the document in which the shooting is mentioned at all, and nothing more is said than that Bowers heard three shots. On the same day Bowers submitted an affidavit, but again in this document nearly all of it is about the cars in the lot, and of the shots the only description that is given is that I heard at least 3 shots very close together.
But again, as is so often the case with these witnesses, Bowers was allowed to expound at much greater length before the Warren Commission than ever before, and I quote here in their entirety all passages in which anything at all is said about the gunfire itself, from his testimony of April 2, 1964:
**********
Mr. BOWERS - I heard three shots. One, then a slight pause, then two very close together. Also reverberation from the shots.
Mr. BELIN - And were you able to form an opinion as to the source of the sound or what direction it came from, I mean?
Mr. BOWERS - The sounds came either from up against the School Depository Building or near the mouth of the triple underpass.
Mr. BALL - Were you able to tell which? Mr. BOWERS - No; I could not.
Mr. BALL - Well, now, had you had any experience before being in the tower as to sounds coming from those various places?
Mr. BOWERS - Yes; I had worked this same tower for some 10 or 12 years, and was there during the time they were renovating the School Depository Building, and had noticed at that time the similarity of sounds occurring in either of those two locations.
Mr. BALL - Can you tell me now whether or not it came, the sounds you heard, the three shots came from the direction of the Depository Building or the triple underpass?
Mr. BOWERS - No; I could not.
Mr. BALL - From your experience there, previous experience there in hearing sounds that originated at the Texas School Book Depository Building, did you notice that sometimes those sounds seem to come from the triple underpass? Is that what you told me a moment ago?
Mr. BOWERS - There is a similarity of sound, because there is a reverberation which takes place from either location.
Mr. BALL - Had you heard sounds originating near the triple underpass before?
Mr. BOWERS - Yes; quite often. Because trucks backfire and various occurrences.
Mr. BALL - And you had heard noises originating from the Texas School Depository when they were building there?
Mr. BOWERS - They were renovating. I---did carpenter work as well as sandblasted the outside of the building.
..........
Mr. BALL - When you heard the sound, which way were you looking?
Mr. BOWERS - At the moment I heard the sound, I was looking directly towards the area---at the moment of the first shot, as close as my recollection serves, the car was out of sight behind this decorative masonry wall in the area. Mr. BALL - And when you heard the second and third shot, could you see the car?
Mr. BOWERS - No; at the moment of the shots, I could---I do not think that it was in sight. It came in sight immediately following the last shot.
**********
I have said earlier that I feel that sometimes Galanor has made rather strange choices regarding the categories into which he puts these witnesses. For Bowers, Galanor says Knoll & Depository. But here again, that is not what the witness said. Bowers said, The sounds came either from up against the School Depository Building or near the mouth of the triple underpass. From either up against the Depository or near the mouth of the Triple Underpass. He did not say the Depository *and* the Triple Underpass. He said the Depository *or* the Triple Underpass, and he was quite plain that he was not sure which. And neither of these locations is the knoll, unless one interprets up against the Depository as shots from the knoll echoing off the west side of the building. But then that makes Galanor s interpretation even more problematic, because then that would be the knoll, and the Triple Underpass would be a different location, so with that interpretation he should have said Knoll or Triple Underpass. But it should be obvious that Bowers was not claiming that the gunfire came from two directions.
He was clearly saying that he thought it came from one direction *or* the other, not one direction *and* the other. And notice there is no mention at all of any shot sounding louder, or closer, or farther, than any of the other shots.
> It has now been eleven days since I started this thread, and still not
> one person, not one, has in this thread quoted a single witness who said
> the shots came from multiple directions. Nor has anyone quoted a single
Except for YOU.
> witness who said that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer,
> or more distant, than any other shot. Only two posters in this thread,
Except for YOU.
> and one in another, have made any specific claim that I am "wrong" in
> any of my claims made in the first article in this thread. But they all
We don't need to. It is merely sufficient to say that you are always wrong about everything. That is your goal in life.
> seem very reluctant to post in this thread even the most meager shred of
> evidence imaginable that I am even slightly wrong on even a single one
> of those claims. So I shall simply continue to *prove* my claims to be
> correct by continuing to post witnesses who each named a *single*
> direction for *all* of the gunfire, and who made no mention of any
> difference in volume or distance in any of the shots.
> Witness number eleven:
> Another well-known witness in the assassination literature is Lee
> Bowers, whose statements about the assassination have been used in
> various ways by various authors, both to support and dispute the idea of
> multiple shooters. Bowers was in quite a unique position: he was in the
> railroad tower near the parking lot adjacent to the TSBD, and could see
> more or less the entirety of the back side of the picket fence that runs
> along the grassy knoll, and furthermore from a position of some
> elevation to see over the cars in the lot. There is a report on Bowers
> from the day of the assassination by Deputy Sheriff Harold Elkins, but
> most of the document concerns only the issue of the cars in the parking
> lot, including that Bowers had seen two cars driving through the lot
> prior to the shooting. There is only one sentence in the document in
> which the shooting is mentioned at all, and nothing more is said than
> that Bowers heard three shots. On the same day Bowers submitted an
> affidavit, but again in this document nearly all of it is about the cars
> in the lot, and of the shots the only description that is given is that
> I heard at least 3 shots very close together.
> But again, as is so often the case with these witnesses, Bowers was
> allowed to expound at much greater length before the Warren Commission
> than ever before, and I quote here in their entirety all passages in
> which anything at all is said about the gunfire itself, from his
> testimony of April 2, 1964:
> **********
> Mr. BOWERS - I heard three shots. One, then a slight pause, then two
> very close together. Also reverberation from the shots.
> Mr. BELIN - And were you able to form an opinion as to the source of the
> sound or what direction it came from, I mean?
> Mr. BOWERS - The sounds came either from up against the School
> Depository Building or near the mouth of the triple underpass.
> Mr. BALL - Were you able to tell which?
> Mr. BOWERS - No; I could not.
> Mr. BALL - Well, now, had you had any experience before being in the
> tower as to sounds coming from those various places?
> Mr. BOWERS - Yes; I had worked this same tower for some 10 or 12 years,
> and was there during the time they were renovating the School Depository
> Building, and had noticed at that time the similarity of sounds
> occurring in either of those two locations.
> Mr. BALL - Can you tell me now whether or not it came, the sounds you
> heard, the three shots came from the direction of the Depository
> Building or the triple underpass?
> Mr. BOWERS - No; I could not.
> Mr. BALL - From your experience there, previous experience there in
> hearing sounds that originated at the Texas School Book Depository
> Building, did you notice that sometimes those sounds seem to come from
> the triple underpass? Is that what you told me a moment ago?
> Mr. BOWERS - There is a similarity of sound, because there is a
> reverberation which takes place from either location.
> Mr. BALL - Had you heard sounds originating near the triple underpass
> before?
> Mr. BOWERS - Yes; quite often. Because trucks backfire and various
> occurrences.
> Mr. BALL - And you had heard noises originating from the Texas School
> Depository when they were building there?
> Mr. BOWERS - They were renovating. I---did carpenter work as well as
> sandblasted the outside of the building.
> ..........
> Mr. BALL - When you heard the sound, which way were you looking?
> Mr. BOWERS - At the moment I heard the sound, I was looking directly
> towards the area---at the moment of the first shot, as close as my
> recollection serves, the car was out of sight behind this decorative
> masonry wall in the area.
> Mr. BALL - And when you heard the second and third shot, could you see
> the car?
> Mr. BOWERS - No; at the moment of the shots, I could---I do not think
> that it was in sight. It came in sight immediately following the last
> shot.
> **********
> I have said earlier that I feel that sometimes Galanor has made rather
> strange choices regarding the categories into which he puts these
> witnesses. For Bowers, Galanor says Knoll & Depository. But here
> again, that is not what the witness said. Bowers said, The sounds came
> either from up against the School Depository Building or near the mouth
> of the triple underpass. From either up against the Depository or near
> the mouth of the Triple Underpass. He did not say the Depository *and*
> the Triple Underpass. He said the Depository *or* the Triple Underpass,
> and he was quite plain that he was not sure which. And neither of these
> locations is the knoll, unless one interprets up against the
> Depository as shots from the knoll echoing off the west side of the
> building. But then that makes Galanor s interpretation even more
> problematic, because then that would be the knoll, and the Triple
> Underpass would be a different location, so with that interpretation he
> should have said Knoll or Triple Underpass. But it should be obvious
> that Bowers was not claiming that the gunfire came from two directions.
> He was clearly saying that he thought it came from one direction *or*
> the other, not one direction *and* the other. And notice there is no
> mention at all of any shot sounding louder, or closer, or farther, than
> any of the other shots.
> In article <506f7ba...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu>,
> Anthony Marsh <anthony.ma...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> I have quoted them thousands of times, but every time I do you bury your
> Let's set the record straight, everyone.
> First of all, Mr. Marsh knew perfectly well, long before he posted this
> article, that I did not read more than a very few of his articles between
> 2005 and about a month ago. He also knows perfectly well why that is:
> because in 2005 he kept claiming that I said things I never said and then
> absolutely refused to admit his mistakes even after they were pointed out
> to him. I decided to give him another chance around the beginning of last
> month, but I have found he hasn't changed in the slightest. He still
> frequently claims that I and other posters here have said things we've
> never said. This of course serves no constructive purpose whatsoever in
> discussing the JFK assassination, and in fact it is a disservice to any
> such discussion.
> Secondly, Mr. Marsh knew perfectly well long before he posted this article
> that I was often absent from this newsgroup for months at a time between
> 2005 and this past July.
> Thirdly, it is irrelevant how many times Mr. Marsh has quoted these
> witnesses. What is relevant is how many witnesses he has quoted. In the
> past month I have only seen Mr. Marsh name one witness who said that the
> shots came from multiple directions. But that was in another thread, and
> he did not actually quote that witness saying so. And I do not recall
> ever seeing him quote any witness who said that any individual shot
> sounded as if it came from closer or farther away than any other shot.
Well, unlike you I don't post exactly the same message 100 times every day for months and call them all separate messages.
Nor is all my writing only here in this newsgroup. You refuse to read everything I write. That is your choice, but then don't claim that I never wrote it.
> So I call everyone to notice again that in *this* thread not one poster,
> not one, has yet quoted a single witness who said that the shots came from
> multiple directions. Nor has anyone in *this* thread quoted a single
Except YOU.
> witness who said that the shots came from different distances away from
> that witness. So I will continue to quote witnesses who said neither of
> those things.
> Let me remind everyone of what I said at the beginning of this thread. I
> said for every witness who is quoted, along with the original source,
> saying that the shots came from multiple directions, I would be able to
> produce nine or more who said otherwise. I am now about to quote my tenth
> witness in this thread, even *without* anyone having quoted in *this*
> thread a single witness who said the shots came from multiple directions.
> I am already getting ahead of the tiny, tiny, tiny minority of posters in
> this newsgroup who are the naysayers. Only three posters have so far
> specifically disputed my claims on this matter in any thread: Robert
> Harris, Curt Jester, and Anthony Marsh. Not even Pat Speer in this thread
> made any specific statement that all of my claims at the beginning of this
> thread are incorrect. That means even the vast majority of CTs alone in
> this newsgroup haven't disputed me in the slightest on this.
> Obviously because they know better.
> Witness number ten:
> Next we have Officer Eugene Boone of the Dallas County Sheriff?s
> Department, and his claim to fame is that he is the person who found the
> rifle on the sixth floor of the Depository. But of course what concerns
> us here is what he said about the sounds of the gunfire. I give first his
> report filed on the day of the assassination, which is reproduced in
> Decker Exhibit No. 5323:
> **********
> Att [sic] approx. 1pm date I was in front of the Sheriffs [sic] Office at
> 505 Main St Dallas Texas when I heard three shots coming from the vicinity
> of where the Presidents [sic] car was, I raced across the street (Main &
> Houston). The Presidential car and other cars were turning onto Stemmons
> Fwy. Some of the bystanders said the shots came from the overpass. I ran
> across the street (Elm) and up the embankment over the retaining wall and
> into the freight yard and was unable to locate anything.
> **********
> I advise readers not to trust what any author says about these documents
> without reading them for yourself. If you go by Galanor?s list you may
> notice that Galanor puts Boone in the ?Knoll? category. But that isn?t
> what Boone said here. He said the vicinity of the President?s car, and it
> should be noted that most researchers agree that the limousine was
> somewhere in front of the Depository at least when the first shot was
> fired. Also Boone said that witnesses told him the shots came from the
> overpass, not that he himself thought the shots came from the overpass.
> That also is not the knoll. I have noticed Galanor doing this sort of
> thing with other witnesses as well. Next I give Boone?s testimony to the
> Warren Commission, taken on March 25, 1964:
> **********
> Mr. BALL - On the 22d of November, where were you working?
> Mr. BOONE - I was working downtown. I was out viewing the parade.
> Mr. BALL - Where did you view the parade?
> Mr. BOONE - Right in front of the sheriff's office.
> Mr. BALL - Had you been assigned a place, a job that day?
> Mr. BOONE - No.
> Mr. BALL - You were out in front of the sheriff's office on Main Street?
> Mr. BOONE - That is correct.
> Mr. BALL - Near Houston?
> Mr. BOONE - Yes.
> Mr. BALL - And who were you with?
> Mr. BOONE - Officer Mooney was out there, I believe, and several of the
> office personnel, women in the office, clerk-typist and what have you.
> Ralph Walters, Buddy Walthers, Allen Sweatt, L. C. Smith. Officer
> Gramstaff. That is about all I can remember.
> Mr. BALL - What happened there?
> Mr. BOONE - Well, it was approximately 1 o'clock when we heard the
> shots. The motorcade had already passed by us and turned back to the
> north on Houston Street. And we heard what we thought to be a shot. And
> there seemed to be a pause between the first shot and the second shot
> and third shots--a little longer pause. And we raced across the street
> there.
> Mr. BALL - You raced across what street?
> Mr. BOONE - Houston Street.
> Mr. BALL - You turned to your right and went west?
> Mr. BOONE - Well, there is a big cement works out there. We went on west
> across Houston Street, and then cut across the grass out there behind the
> large cement works there. Some of the bystanders over there seemed to
> think the shots came from up over the railroad in the freight yards, from
> over the triple underpass. So there was some city officer, I don't know
> who he was, motorcycle officer had laid his motorcycle down and was
> running up the embankment to get over a little retaining wall that
> separates the freight yards there. He went over the wall first, and I was
> right behind him, going into the freight yards. We searched out the
> freight yards. We were unable to find anything.
> **********
> In both statements Boone was consistent in describing his own actions: in
> both he said he watched the motorcade from in front of the Sheriff?s
> office, and then after the shots were fired he ran over to the freight
> yard. Absent this time before the Commission is his earlier claim of
> initially believing the shots came from the vicinity of the limousine, but
> he still said again here that bystanders told him the shots had all come
> from a certain direction. This time it is not simply ?the overpass,? but
> instead ?from up over the railroad in the freight yards, from over the
> triple underpass.? But again he did not say that this was his own
> impression of where the shots came from, but instead what witnesses told
> him. And this is not exactly the knoll either. There is also no mention
> of Boone himself, or any of the witnesses he talked to, saying that the
> shots came from multiple directions, nor is there any mention of any of
> them thinking that any of the shots came from a different distance, closer
> or farther, than the other shots.
Make sure that you ONLY quote the WC and never any other source. Or else how would you be able to confirm that you are a WC defender?
In article <5071cde...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu>,
Anthony Marsh <anthony.ma...@comcast.net> wrote:
> It is merely sufficient to say that you are always > wrong about everything. That is your goal in life.
I call everyone to notice that Mr. Marsh has still not made the most meager attempt imaginable to even *try* to actually *prove* that a single one of my claims in the first article in this thread are even *slightly* incorrect. His whole argument boils down to nothing more than, "You're wrong just because." This of course is woefully unconvincing to any reasonable person. Still as of today not one poster in this thread, not one, not even Mr. Marsh himself, has actually *quoted* a single witness specifically saying that the shots came from multiple directions, nor has he or anyone else in this thread quoted a single witness who said that any individual shot came from closer or farther away than the other shots.
So yet again I will continue to prove that all of my claims in my original article in this thread are absolutely correct.
Witness number twelve:
Charles Brehm and his five-year-old son, James, were standing across the street from Abraham Zapruder, i.e. on the south side of Elm not far from the curb. They can clearly be seen in the film from roughly frame 270 to frame 300, or for a little under two seconds when the film is viewed in real time. They are standing about twenty feet or so to the left of Jean Hill in her bright red coat, and Charles Brehm is wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and dark pants. Thus he and his son were among the closest witnesses to the limousine as the shots were being fired. Brehm was interviewed by the Dallas Times Herald soon after the shooting, and in that article this is said:
**********
The witness Brehm was shaking uncontrollably as he further described the shooting. "The first shot must not have been too solid, because he just slumped. Then on the second shot he seemed to fall back." Brehm seemed to think the shots came from in front of or beside the President. He explained the President did not slump forward as if he would have after being shot from the rear. The book depository building stands in the rear of the President's location at the time of the shooting.
**********
Again here I find Galanor?s decision of which category to put Brehm in curious. Even though right below the category Galanor quotes exactly what I quoted above, Brehm is said to be a ?Knoll & Depository? witness. Yet we can all plainly see that the article says that he thought the shots came from in front of *or* beside the President, not in front of *and* beside the President. Galanor seems to consistently confuse the use of the conjunction ?or? with one of a different meaning, ?and.?
Two days after the assassination Brehm was interviewed by the FBI. This also is a document quoted verbatim by Galanor:
**********
When the President's automobile was very close to him and he could see the President's face very well, the President was seated, but was leaning forward when he stiffened perceptibly at the same instant what appeared to be a rifle shot sounded. According to BREHM, the President seemed do to stiffen and come to a pause when another shot sounded and the President appeared to be badly hit in the head. BREHM said when the President was hit by the second shot, he could notice the President's hair fly up, and then roll over to his side, as Mrs. KENNEDY was apparently pulling him in that direction. BREHM said that a third shot followed and that all three shots were relatively close together. BREHM stated that he was in military service and he has had experience with bolt-action rifles, and he expressed the opinion that the three shots were fired just about as quickly as an individual can maneuver a bolt-action rifle, take aim, and fire three shots. BREHM stated he definitely knew the President had been shot and he recalled having seen blood on the President's face. He also stated that it seemed quite apparent to him that the shots came from one of two buildings back at the corner of Elm and Houston Streets. Immediately after the third shot rang out, BREHM pushed his son down on the grass and for the moment was more concerned with the safety of his son who might be hit accidentally by any wild gunfire which might follow. BREHM expressed his opinion that between the first and third shots, the President's car only seemed to move 10 or 12 feet. It seemed to him that the automobile almost came to a halt after the first shot, but of this he is not certain. After the third shot, the car in which the President was riding increased its speed and went under the freeway overpass and out of his sight.
**********
Let us look carefully at the only sentence in the entire document in which anything at all is said about where Brehm thought the gunfire had come from: ?He also stated that it seemed quite apparent to him that the shots came from one of two buildings back at the corner of Elm and Houston Streets.? One of two buildings. Quite obviously this means only one building *or* the other, not one building *and* the other. And this time neither of these can be correctly interpreted as being the knoll. One must therefore wonder about Galanor?s integrity to quote this in support of his ?Knoll & Depository? category, when this document clearly does not support that at all. This is yet another example of what I have often said: never trust what someone else tells you a document says. Read the document for yourself before you decide that the author or researcher is correct.
However, I should at least note that this description is rather different from the newspaper article. There Brehm apparently made no reference to any buildings. Still, in both documents, while the description of direction has certainly changed, it is still clear that in neither case did Brehm appear to be suggesting that the shots came from multiple directions.
> On 10/6/2012 6:42 PM, John Reagor King wrote:
> > In article <506f7ba...@mcadams.posc.mu.edu>,
> > Anthony Marsh <anthony.ma...@comcast.net> wrote:
> >> I have quoted them thousands of times, but every time I do you bury your
> > Let's set the record straight, everyone.
> > First of all, Mr. Marsh knew perfectly well, long before he posted this
> > article, that I did not read more than a very few of his articles between
> > 2005 and about a month ago. He also knows perfectly well why that is:
> > because in 2005 he kept claiming that I said things I never said and then
> > absolutely refused to admit his mistakes even after they were pointed out
> > to him. I decided to give him another chance around the beginning of last
> > month, but I have found he hasn't changed in the slightest. He still
> > frequently claims that I and other posters here have said things we've
> > never said. This of course serves no constructive purpose whatsoever in
> > discussing the JFK assassination, and in fact it is a disservice to any
> > such discussion.
> > Secondly, Mr. Marsh knew perfectly well long before he posted this article
> > that I was often absent from this newsgroup for months at a time between
> > 2005 and this past July.
> > Thirdly, it is irrelevant how many times Mr. Marsh has quoted these
> > witnesses. What is relevant is how many witnesses he has quoted. In the
> > past month I have only seen Mr. Marsh name one witness who said that the
> > shots came from multiple directions. But that was in another thread, and
> > he did not actually quote that witness saying so. And I do not recall
> > ever seeing him quote any witness who said that any individual shot
> > sounded as if it came from closer or farther away than any other shot.
> Well, unlike you I don't post exactly the same message 100 times every > day for months and call them all separate messages.
Here Mr. Marsh is again making a very false claim about me, to be added to so very many others. I have never once come even remotely close to posting an identical message 100 times. I have done that maybe a handful of times at the most. And I certainly haven't done anything even remotely like that "for months," lol.
> Nor is all my writing only here in this newsgroup. You refuse to read > everything I write.
Here Mr. Marsh is being quite unreasonable, everyone, and this is of course nothing new for him. I have never once suggested to him that he read everything I have ever written in this newsgroup or out of it, so he is off base suggesting that anyone should read everything he has ever written either. He also falsely claims that I "refuse" to read what he's written, when in actuality he knows perfectly well that nearly every time since the middle of last month that he has posted any link to anything he's written in reply to me, I have almost always gone right to it and read it, even though on most of those occasions he falsely accused me of "refusing" or being "afraid" to go read these things.
> That is your choice, but then don't claim that I > never wrote it.
I honestly do not recall ever once claiming that Mr. Marsh didn't write something that he did write, unless I made an honest mistake, and if so I almost always admit such mistakes as soon as they are pointed out to me. I have *correctly* observed that in *this* thread, nowhere else, just *this* thread only, Mr. Marsh has not quoted a single witness, or even *named* a single witness *without* quoting what the witness said, who said that the shots came from multiple directions, and/or different distances. I have *never* said that he has not named and quoted such witnesses *elsewhere*. I know perfectly well that he has. In fact, *both* he and I have *named* such a witness in *other* threads recently, though *neither* of us *quoted* that witness in those other threads.
I'm simply wondering what's taking everybody so long to name and quote a single one of them in *this* thread. ;-)
I shall also note again to everyone that Mr. Marsh does not exactly practice what he preaches. For at least seven years he has frequently claimed that I have said things that I never said, and then absolutely refused to admit his mistakes even after they were pointed out to him.
He does this to many other posters as well. A week ago he claimed that I said JFK already had his fists up by Z225, but sadly, even though I have been pointing out his mistake several times a day since then, he still refuses to plainly admit he made this mistake. What does this say regarding his credibility on other issues?
> > So I call everyone to notice again that in *this* thread not one poster,
> > not one, has yet quoted a single witness who said that the shots came from
> > multiple directions. Nor has anyone in *this* thread quoted a single
> Except YOU.
Notice, everyone, that Mr. Marsh fails to give the *name* of such a witness that I have supposedly quoted in *this* thread. And that multi-direction witness that I mentioned above that I have indeed mentioned several times recently in *other* threads was not a witness that I actually *quoted* in those threads, so once again Mr. Marsh has made a false claim.
> > witness who said that the shots came from different distances away from
> > that witness. So I will continue to quote witnesses who said neither of
> > those things.
> Except YOU.
And still no such witness is named in *this* thread.
Mr. Marsh seems to be under the delusion that I would not *welcome* the naming and quoting of such witness in *this* thread, as long as a valid original source is given. In fact, I've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for just someone, just *anyone*, not Mr. Marsh only, to do such a thing, and I've already said several times in *this* thread that if no one ever quotes such witness in *this* thread that I will eventually do so myself. But we can all see that my original proposition was that for every multi-direction and/or multi-distance witness that was quoted in *this* thread, I would quote nine or more who gave a single direction and said nothing about differences in volume and/or distance. I'm already up to twelve witnesses as of yesterday. We're still at zero in *this* thread for witnesses who said the shots came from multiple directions and/or from different distances.
> > Let me remind everyone of what I said at the beginning of this thread. I
> > said for every witness who is quoted, along with the original source,
> > saying that the shots came from multiple directions, I would be able to
> > produce nine or more who said otherwise. I am now about to quote my tenth
> > witness in this thread, even *without* anyone having quoted in *this*
> > thread a single witness who said the shots came from multiple directions.
> > I am already getting ahead of the tiny, tiny, tiny minority of posters in
> > this newsgroup who are the naysayers. Only three posters have so far
> > specifically disputed my claims on this matter in any thread: Robert
> > Harris, Curt Jester, and Anthony Marsh. Not even Pat Speer in this thread
> > made any specific statement that all of my claims at the beginning of this
> > thread are incorrect. That means even the vast majority of CTs alone in
> > this newsgroup haven't disputed me in the slightest on this.
> > Obviously because they know better.
> > Witness number ten:
> > Next we have Officer Eugene Boone of the Dallas County Sheriff?s
> > Department, and his claim to fame is that he is the person who found the
> > rifle on the sixth floor of the Depository. But of course what concerns
> > us here is what he said about the sounds of the gunfire. I give first his
> > report filed on the day of the assassination, which is reproduced in
> > Decker Exhibit No. 5323:
> > **********
> > Att [sic] approx. 1pm date I was in front of the Sheriffs [sic] Office at
> > 505 Main St Dallas Texas when I heard three shots coming from the vicinity
> > of where the Presidents [sic] car was, I raced across the street (Main &
> > Houston). The Presidential car and other cars were turning onto Stemmons
> > Fwy. Some of the bystanders said the shots came from the overpass. I ran
> > across the street (Elm) and up the embankment over the retaining wall and
> > into the freight yard and was unable to locate anything.
> > **********
> > I advise readers not to trust what any author says about these documents
> > without reading them for yourself. If you go by Galanor?s list you may
> > notice that Galanor puts Boone in the ?Knoll? category. But that isn?t
> > what Boone said here. He said the vicinity of the President?s car, and it
> > should be noted that most researchers agree that the limousine was
> > somewhere in front of the Depository at least when the first shot was
> > fired. Also Boone said that witnesses told him the shots came from the
> > overpass, not that he himself thought the shots came from the overpass.
> > That also is not the knoll. I have noticed Galanor doing this sort of
> > thing with other witnesses as well. Next I give Boone?s testimony to the
> > Warren Commission, taken on March 25, 1964:
> > **********
> > Mr. BALL - On the 22d of November, where were you working?
> > Mr. BOONE - I was working downtown. I was out viewing the parade.
> > Mr. BALL - Where did you view the parade?
> > Mr. BOONE - Right in front of the sheriff's office.
> > Mr. BALL - Had you been assigned a place, a job that day?
> > Mr. BOONE - No.
> > Mr. BALL - You were out in front of the sheriff's office
It has now been two weeks since I started this thread, and I am still waiting and waiting and waiting for just someone, just anyone, to quote, for the first time ever in *this* thread, a Dealey Plaza witness who said that the shots came from multiple directions and/or that any individual shot sounded louder and/or closer, or farther, than any other individual shot. Since no one has come through yet, I will just continue to quote the tremendously larger number of witnesses who prove every claim I made in my first article in this thread to be absolutely true beyond all reasonable doubt.
Witness number fourteen:
Our next witness is one of the most famous (or infamous, if one prefers) witnesses in this entire case, Howard Brennan. It was apparently from his description of the shooter only minutes after the assassination that an alert went out over the Dallas Police radio for a suspect matching that description, and as will be seen below, Brennan himself gave essentially the same description in his same-day affidavit. Many commentators have noted his apparent waffling later on whether or not he could identify Oswald as the assassin he had seen. Be that as it may, my main purpose here is simply to quote what he said about the gunfire. I now give what he said in his affidavit in its entirety:
**********
I am presently employed by the Wallace and Beard Construction Company as a Steam fitter and have been so employed for about the past 7 weeks. I am working on a pipe line in the Katy Railroad yards at the West end of Pacific Street near the railroad tracks. We had knocked off for lunch and I had dinner at the cafeteria at Record and Main Street and had come back to see the President of the United States. I was sitting on a ledge or wall near the intersection of Houston Street and Elm Street near the red light pole. I was facing in a northerly direction looking across the street from where I was sitting. I take this building across the street to be about 7 stories anyway in the east endof [sic] the building and the second row of windows from the top I saw a man in this window. I had seen him before the President's car arrived. He was just sitting up there looking down apparently waiting for the same thing I was to see the President. I did not notice anything unusual about this man. He was a white man in his early 30's, slender, nice looking, slender and would weigh about 165 to 175 pounds. He had on light colored clothing but definately [sic] not a suit. I proceeded to watch the President's car as it turned left at the corner where I was and about 50 yards from the intersection of Elm and Houston and to a point I would say the President's back was in line with the last windows I have previously described I heard what I thought was a back fire. It run [sic] in my mind that it might be someone throwing firecrackers out the window of the red brick building and I looked up at the building. I then saw this man I have described in the window and he was taking aim with a high powered rifle. I could see all of the barrel of the gun. I do not know if it had a scope on it or not. I was looking at the man in this windows at the time of the last explosion. Then this man let the gun down to his side and stepped down out of sight. He did not seem to be in any hurry. I could see this man from about his belt up. There was nothing unusual about him at all in appearance. I believe that I could identify this man if I ever saw him again.
**********
To say that it is ?obvious? that Brennan thought that this man was the only person who fired at the motorcade is an understatement.
Still on the same day of the assassination, Brennan was interviewed by the FBI, and this is the entirety of the portion of the report in which anything at all is said about the gunfire:
**********
He said the automobile [Presidential limousine] had passed down Elm Street (going in a westerly direction) approximately 30 yard s from the point where he (Brennan) was seated when he heard a loud report which he first thought to be the "backfire" of an automobile. He said he hoes not distinctly remember a second shot but he remembers "more than one noise," as if someone was shooting fire crackers, and consequently he believes there must have been a second shot before he looked in the direction of the Texas School Book Depository building. Upon hearing the report, or reports, he looked across the street to the Texas School book Depository building, where he saw a man in a window on the sixth floor near the Southeast corner of the building. The man he observed in the window had what appeared to be a "heavy" rifle in his hands. He could not tell whether or not this rifle had a telescopic sight, as the rifle was protruding only about half its length outside the window. He was positive that after he had observed this man in the window, he saw this person take "deliberate aim" and fire a shot. He then observed this person take the rifle from his shoulder and hold it by the barrel of the rifle, as if he were resting the but of the rifle on the floor. He said this individual observed the scene on the street below, momentarily, and then stepped back from the window. He said the rifle was pointed in the direction of the President?s car when he saw it fired. He advised there was nothing to obstruct his line of vision between the place where he was seated and the window on the sixth floor of the Texas School book Depository building where he saw the man with the rifle. He estimated distance between the point where he was seated and the window from which the shots were fired to be approximately 90 yards.
**********
The FBI interviewed Brennan again on December 17, 1963, but in this report nothing specifically is said about the gunfire; the gist of it instead is his explanation for initially not identifying Oswald in a lineup as the person he had seen firing the shots.
The FBI interviewed him yet *again* on January 7, 1964 (this report is reproduced in CE 2006), and I quote here the one and only paragraph in the entire document in which anything at all is specifically said about the gunfire itself:
**********
Mr. BRENNAN advised that on November 22, 1963, after finishing lunch at about 12:18 PM, he sat on a retainer wall directly across from the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) building, on Elm Street. While he was sitting there, he looked up at the TSBD building and noticed that there was a man standing in the sixth floor window; however, at this time, this man did not have a rifle. He said he then turned around and noticed that the man had left the window. Then he turned his head back toward the South where the Presidential motorcade would come. Approximately ten minutes after sitting down on this retaining wall, the Presidential motorcade turned onto Houston Street, and he was able to see President KENNEDY and his wife pass approximately thirty yards west on Elm from where he was seated. The car passed out of sight and shortly thereafter, he heard one shot, which he first believed to have been a firecracker, and he immediately looked toward the TSBD building and saw a man on the sixth floor in the same window, near the southeast corner of the building, and noticed that this man took deliberate aim and shot the rifle again. When he saw the man shoot the rifle this time, he realized it was the same man that he had seen standing in the window a few minutes before.
**********
I next quote from what, as far as I know, is the lengthiest and most detailed account Mr. Brennan ever gave in his entire life about the assassination under any circumstances in any venue, such as testimony, affidavit, filmed interview, magazine or newspaper interview, book, etc., with the possible exception of his own book, co-written with J. Edward Cherryholmes, "Eyewitness to History: The Kennedy Assassination: As Seen by Howard Brennan." Just as with so many of the other witnesses, this will once again be testimony before the Warren Commission. His testimony of March 24, 1964, is among the longest of all the 552 witnesses, but as always before, I will try to quote every passage in which anything at all is said about the gunfire itself, no matter what it was, but any reader can quite easily confirm by looking at the complete testimony itself whether or not I have accidentally left out anything of relevance to this issue, and any poster here is welcome to quote from anything that I missed:
**********
Mr. BELIN. Mr. Brennan, could you please tell the Commission what happened from the time you sat on that retaining wall, what you saw? Mr. BRENNAN. Well, I was more or less observing the crowd and the people in different building windows, including the fire escape across from the Texas Book Store on the east side of the Texas Book Store, and also the Texas Book Store Building windows. I observed quite a few people in different windows. In particular, I saw this one man on the sixth floor which left the window to my knowledge a couple of times. Mr. BELIN. Now, you say the window on the sixth floor. What building are you referring to there? Mr. BRENNAN. That is the Texas Book Store. Mr. BELIN. I am going to ask you to circle on Exhibit 477 the particular window that you said you saw a man leave and come back a couple of times. Mr. BRENNAN. Well, I am confused here, the way this shows. But I believe this is the sixth floor, the way those windows are built there right at the present. I am confused whether this is the same window. Mr. BELIN. You mean because some windows are open below it? Mr. BRENNAN. No. The way the building is built, it seems like this is more or less a long window with a divider
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