TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29,1964
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1964 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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Warren
Commission
Gives
Suggestions,
Criticism
WASHINGTON (,A'-The War-
ren Commission's report on Presi-
dent John F. Kennedy's assassina-
tion has sparked a demand that
Congress act at once to improve
presidential security.
And, while the commission's
findings-and criticisms of the
FBI and Secret Service-were be-
ing relayed to the world, Presi-
dent Lyndon B. Johnson swiftly
appointed a four-man committee
to advise him "on the execution"
of the commission's recommenda-
tions.
The primary conclusion by the
seven-man presidential commis-
sion is that Lee Harvey Oswald,
acting alone and not as part of
any foreign or domestic conspiracy,
murdered Kennedy. And it said
Jack Ruby acted as a loner in
gunning down Oswald two days
later. '
Main Recommendation
The main recommendation of
the commission in its 888-page
report, made public Sunday, is
legislation-to tighten protection
of presidents and to make the
killing of a president or a vice-
president a federal crime.
Senate Democratic Leader Mike
Mansfield of Montana said Con-
gress should stay on the job to
act on such recommendations even
though it is soon to adjourn.
But proposals along these lines
apparently will await the advice
of the President's four-man com-
mittee-Secretary of the Treas-
ury Douglas Dillon, Acting Atty.
Gen. Nicholas Katzenbach, Direc-
tor John A. McCone of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency and Mc-
George Bundy, special assistant
to the President. for national se-
curity affairs.
Guilt Certain
The Warren Report pinned down
Oswald's guilt, to the commission's
own unqualified certainty, such1
a weight of eyewitness testimony
and other evidence far more mas-
sive than was believed to exist.
time rifle shot that just missed nothing anybody could do to de-
former Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walk- fend against such an attempt."
er.
Cabinet Committee
The report by Chief Justice
Earl Warren and six distinguished
colleagues urged creation of a'
cabinet committee to assume top
responsibility for presidential'
safety.
This new body might consider,j
the report suggested, "suggestions"!
made to the commission-but not
specifically endorsed by it-that
the duty of protecting Presidents'
be removed from the Secret Serv-
ice.
The report praised the swift ac-
tion of individual agents in the
November tragedy. The response
of some "was in the highest tra-
dition of government service."
More Funds
But the report called for more
funds and personnel for presi-
dential protection immediately,
better lines of coordination be-
tween agencies and a "complete
overhaul" of advance detection
practices.
It noted Kennedy's own com-
ment to an aide, on the day he
died-that:
"If anybody really wanted -to
shoot the President of the United
States, it was not a very difficult
job--all one had to do was get
on a high building someday with
a telescopic rifle, and there was
PRESIDENT KENNEDY
It revealed muddled testimony
from Oswald's pretty Russian-
speaking widow, Marina, that her
unstable husband seven months
earlier had threatened to kill for-
mer Vice-President Richard M.
Nixon with a pistol.
But Oswald might actually have
been threatening Johnson, not
Nixon, the commission said. It
was Johnson, then vice-president,
who was in Dallas at the time.
His visit, April 23, 1963, was just
13 days after Oswald fired a night-
European Press Shows
Mixed Reaction to Report
LONDON 0P)-Most European newspapers agreed yesterday that
the Warren Commission effectively spiked rumors of a conspiracy in
the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Others however, including all Communist and leftist papers, said
the report left a great many questions unanswered.
Le Monde of Paris began publishing the massive text of the re-
port-so great was French interest. West Berlin's largest tabloid, "BZ,"
" said the report has killed the stor-
ies about "an alleged conspiracy of
oil billionaires, of the race fanat-
Official Failures
But the report critically re-
cited a chain of what it called
official failures, omissions and er-
rors, including:
1) The Secret Service "as a
matter of practice did not investi-
gate, or cause to be checked, any
building along the motorcade
route" to be used by Kennedy,
Johnson and Texas Gov. John B
Connally.
2) The Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation failed to alert the
Secret Service to the presence in
Dallas of Oswald, the lonely,
brooding onetime defector to Rus-
sia and pro-Castro agitator.
Telephone Threats
3) The Dallas police failed to
heed adequately two telephoned
threats againstk Oswald's life, as
well as a personal warning from
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to
provide "utmost security" for the
prisoner. Jack Ruby, a pistol-
carrying nightclub owner, walked
unchallenged into a disorderly jail
corridor jammed with police and
newsmen. He shot Oswald dead
and destroyed all hope of a con-
fession.
4) With the help of "a running
commentary by the police" which
included unchecked and erroneous
reports, "a great deal of mis-
information was disseminated to
a worldwide audience" by the
press, radio and television. The
commission criticized police and
press alike.
"The publicizing of unchecked
information provided much of the
basis for the myths and rumors
that came into being soon after
the President's death," said the
com Distorted Interpretations
"Theerroneous disclosures be-
came the basis for distorted re-
constructions and interpretations
of the assassination."
The report called on representa-
tives of the bar, the news media
and law enforcement groups to
work out together ethical stan-1
dards for collecting and present-
ing news "so that there will be no
interference with pending criminal
investigations, court proceedings
or the right of individuals to a fair
trial."
Aware that millions in Europe
and some in America suspect that 3
a foreign left-wing conspiracy--i
or a U.S. right-wing plot-killed
the President, the commission de-
voted an entire 32-page appendix
to "speculations and rumors," re-
butting them item by item.
Mountainous Evidence I
It piled up mountainous evi-
dence, each scrap of it footnoted;
to the documentation in more1
than 20 volumes of testimony still
to be published, to support its
findings that:
-The lonely, tormented, 24-
year-old self-confessed Marxist-
a "better than average" marksman
as a Marine and "an excellent
shot" as civilians go-killed Ken-
nedy from an ideally situated
sniper's nest in the building where
he worked.
-The first, nonfatal bullet
which hit Kennedy pierced his
throat and "probably" was the one
that wounded Connally. Another
bullet crashed through Kennedy's
head as he slumped.
Wild Bullet
-A third bullet-which could
have been the first, middle or last
of three shots fired-went wild.
It missed even the slow-moving
car. It may have been the last,
fired at the greatest distance.
-The time lapse from first to
last shots was from 4.8 to more
than 7 seconds. Marine marks-
manship experts said Oswald was
capable of firing three shots with
two hits in that time. It was a
"very easy target," moving in di-
rect line of fire.
-The President was alive, in
the medical sense, but in "hope-
less" condition upon arrival at
the hospital five minutes later.
In 25 more minutes life was gone.
Desperate Lunge
-Except for a desperate lunge
by a Secret Service agent, Mrs.
Jacqueline Kennedy p r o b a b 1y
would have fallen from the rear
deck of the auto and been killed
by the following car. She cannot
remember climbing onto the back
of the car.
-One almost complete bullet
and two good-sized fragments of
another were found. They were
fired from Oswald's rifle and no
other, according to positive bal-
listic identification.
-The rifle found in the sniper's
nest was the Italian-made carbine
with a telescopic sight bought by
Oswald by mail in March 1963. It
was identified by his wife Marian,
by the serial number and seller's
stock number, by Oswald's palm
print and by threads from the
shirt he wore that day.
Oswald's Handwriting
-Oswald's handwriting was on
the mail order. It also was on the
order for the pistol which ap-
parently killed Dallas policeman
J. D. Tippit during Oswald's flight
a half hour later. He used the
alias he had used as a pro-Castro
demonstrator in New Orleans, "A.
J. Hidell," an alteration of "Fidel."
-One eyewitness, Howard L.
Brennan, a steamfitter, saw the
rifleman "taking positive aim" and
firing the last shot from the sixth-
floor corner window of the Texas
school book depository. He picked
Oswald from a police lineup as the
man most resembling the sniper.
"He drew the gun back ... and
maybe paused for another second
as though to assure himself that
he hit his mark, and then he dis-
appeared," Brennan said.
Witnesses Saw Rifle
-Six other witnesses saw the
protruding rifle, or saw it fired,
or saw it being withdrawn slowly.
Some saw the moving figure in the
area where book cartons, some
bearing Oswald's palm and finger-
prints, were later found to have
been piled to form a seat and
marksman's parapet.
-"No direct or indirect rela-
tionship'. . . has been discovered"
between the ex-Marine and his
slayer, Ruby. Nor could the com-
mission find any trace of evidence
that Ruby, since convicted of mur-
der, had help from police or any-
one else in getting at Oswald. The
commission accepts Ruby's story-
LEE HARVEY OSWALD
that he simply entered by a ramp
from the street, unnoticed. The
credentials of some reporters were
not checked either.
-The commission found no evi-
dence that neither Oswald or Ruby
"was part of any conspiracy, do-
mestic or foreign, to assassinate
Kennedy." Ruby's reaction to the
assassination "appears to have
been one of genuine shock and
grief," the commission said. His
activities revealed no sign of con-
spiratorial conduct.
Not Employed
-It could find no evidence to
show that Oswald was "employed,
persuaded or encouraged by any
foreign government . . . or that
he was an agent of any foreign
government."
-It cited Secretary of State
Dean Rusk's testimony, before the
commission, that he knew of no
"scrap of evidence indicating that
the Soviet Union" wanted to elim-
inate Kennedy. Rusk went on:
". ..It would be an act of
rashness and madness .. . It has
not been our impression that mad-
ness has characterized the actions
of the Soviet leadership in recent
years."
Solid Evidence
It found what it considered solid
evidence, confirmed by "confi-
dential sources of extremely high
reliability available to the United
States in Mexico," that Oswald's
mysterious trip to Mexico City
was a futile effort to get an "in-
transit visa" through Cuba to
Russia, not a tryst with Cuban
plotters. He- came home "dis-
appointed and discouraged" six
weeks before ,the assassination.
And since all its evidence com-
pelled a conclusion that Oswald
acted alone, the commission said,
"therefore, to determine the mo-
tives for the assassination of Ken-
nedy, one must look to the assas-
sin himself."
Mrs. Oswald's revelation of a
threat to Nixon was a surprise.
She testified her husband put on
a good suit, took a pistol and told
her, "Nixon is coming. I want to
go' and have a look." He said he
would use the pistol if he had a
chance.
'I l
World News
Come in and see our new
e/ I OU a 7Ie: GERMANY
" Of its political atmosphere?
Discussion: Dr. Gerard Weinburg
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 7:30 P.M.
Multi-Purpose Room at UGLI
* Of its modern culture?
Discussion: Dr. Jorchin Birks
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 7:30 P.M.
Multi-Purpose Room at UGLI
" Of its people on campus?
German Party-7 :00 P.M.
October 2-International Center
Sponsored by
ics and of the poor white trash."
"The Warren report has given us
us a feeling of relief," it added.
"America remains what it is .. .
the Warren report has destroyed
the legend of the 'bad America,'
This is the report's great achieve-
ment."
In London, following a morn-
ing press largely endorsing the re-
port, the conservative Evening
Standard said that one big ques-
tion remained:
"Why did the security forces
of the United States, and the
police force of Dallas fail, when
Kennedy went to the city trust-
ing them to protect him?"
In Moscow the Communist Par-
ty newspaper Pravda said the re-
port fails to dissipate all doubts
and suspicions about the assassi-
nation.
Stockholm's leftist Aftonbladet
said, "The Warren report has wip-
ed out all obscurity about the as-
sassination of the President."
NATIONAL
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Roundup
- By The Associated Press
NEW ENGLAND - President
Lyndon B. Johnson drew the
biggest crowds of his campaign
yesterday, contending that "ex-
treme and reckless men" in the
nation would shatter its prosper-
ity.
NEW YORK-A Soviet couple
went on trial yesterday accused of
a cold war espionage conspiracy
involving Russians at the United
Nations. A mysterious double-
agent apparently played a key role
in breaking the ring.
* * *
VATICAN CITY--Seven cardi-
nals, including three from the!
United States, joined yesterday in
an offensive to put the Roman
Catholic church on record as ab-
solving the Jewish people as a
whole of deicide (God-killing) in
Christ's crucifixion.
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