Disappearing Witnesses -- Follow-up

by ratitor

That the concept of (or the ideal we ascribe to) justice -- "justice ... for all," equal justice for all under the law -- is often quite a different thing from the application of justice which our experiences in life teaches us about.

Whatever else can be said about the influence the Kennedy Presidency had on our national consciousness and the sense of possibility that JFK inspired in many people during that time, the fact is his murder was never solved, i.e. there never was any legal proceeding based on the evidence to ascertain--in a court of law--whether Lee Harvey Oswald or anyone else was judged to be guilty of the crime by a jury of his peers. The statute of limitations on murder never expires. There has never been a trail in the state of Texas for the murder of the President. This crime has not been solved since the day it was committed. Deep in everyone's mind there has at some point been consideration of the contradiction "but if justice is not done when the president of the country is violently murdered, then what really *is it* being practiced in this society up to the present day?" We need to more deeply contemplate this riddle. Its solution offers the possibility of once more finding ourselves collectively, as a society of social beings, seeking to dedicate our energies toward the realization of a genuinely just world. A world where children are encouraged and included, a world where women and men can experience their interactions with each other as equals, a world where the elderly are once again able to live day-to-day with their own and other grandchildren, a world where the differences between cultures and races are not simply tolerated, but where all our differences combine to form beauty and meaning.

* * * * * * *

"Tragedy is the difference between what is and what might have been."

Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Abba Eban at Tel Aviv, Israel, November 26th, 1963

In the last 30 years, a fundamental shift has occurred in the way Americans think about justice. When John Kennedy was assassinated, people felt as if the future had collapsed in on the present. Since that time, the tragedy has been magnified a hundred-fold as a result of the deep-rooted, pervasive cover-up perpetrated by those very individuals whose duty and responsibility it was to ascertain the truth about this event, no matter where the finger might point. The fact that a thorough and genuinely rigorous investigation was never conducted by those in authority geometrically expanded the "unthinkable" implications of the violent removal from office of the 35th president of these United States. The effects of this abrogation of constitutional authority--to uncover the truth about the nightmare of loss we as a people experienced--have grown down through the decades and, in the present day, manifest themselves in the rampant corruption and bankruptcy of moral purpose that is everywhere evident in our society.

In 1970 a lawyer using the pen-name of William Torbitt (his real name was David Copeland) wrote in an unpublished manuscript, "Nomenclature of an Assassination Cabal,"

. . . during a few years following John Kennedy's murder, the crime rate in the United States had more than doubled. Public opinion surveys during the time reflected about 80% of the people did not believe the Warren Commission Report. The general public felt someone or some group had been behind the murder of John F. Kennedy and the guilty ones had not been punished. Such an attitude on the part of the public leads to a gradual breakdown of law, order and morals of the society.

All Penal Codes in the history of nations have set out a twofold purpose. The number one and cardinal purpose of a Penal Code is to *deter crime*. The secondary purpose is to *reform the offender*. There is a basic reason for deterrence of crime to be the principal purpose of a criminal code. That is, those who are inclined to commit crime view the prosecution of all criminal acts of others and they are not willing to face the consequences when their own prosecution seems certain. Therefore, crime is reduced and thus deterred.

However, when the head of the National Police Agency joins with a handful of other government leaders and they both in turn throw in with crime to murder a president and the people have an uneasy feeling that something of this nature has taken place, it is only natural that crime and violence increase. The basic deterrent to crime has broken down.

The absence of an honest investigation conducted by federal authorities into the murder of their own chief executive has created a legacy where the basic deterrent to crime has indeed fundamentally broken down. The message, still resonating almost thirty years later, is, "but if someone were elected president who was actually some kind of true radical reformer she or he would simply be killed--in fact they would be killed before they could even secure the nomination of their party." This ultimate throttle in the back of everyone's mind acts as a fire extinguisher aimed at the collective hopes and desires people yearn for to dedicate their lives to creating a just, humane, and compassionate society. This underlying sense of murdered possibilities--that the democratic ideals we grew up being taught to believe in *and to believe were dynamically alive and active in our own society*--has exacted a painful toll on our collective sense of purpose and reason to be.

In the vacuum left by the limited hangout cover-story of the the government "investigations," individual citizens who had already begun their own private investigations, wrote and published the results of their research providing the populace with critical information the government and mainstream press simply would not consider, or at least publically acknowledge or discuss.

One of the earliest and most tenacious of these individuals was Penn Jones Jr., a small-town newspaper editor of the "Mirror" from Midlothian, Texas, who began researching the assassination the day it happened. He had been at the International Trade Mart where the luncheon for JFK was going to be held. When he first heard the brief news that the president had been shot in Dealey Plaza he immediately drove to the scene and began to talk with people there who had witnessed the assassination. One of the first critics of the Warren Report, he was an aggressive, likeable and highly opinionated populist who began to catalogue the disturbing pattern among those people whose lives touched on the assassination of JFK, and who all shared the same experience of meeting quick, unnatural and untimely deaths. In the forward to his "Forgive My Grief, Volume 3," © 1969, (there were four volumes in all) he wrote:

It has always been difficult for a democracy to return to democracy after a prolonged period of dictatorship that always comes with war. Few people remember or even know of the great struggle which went on in the United States after World War I when red baiting got its start. Civil rights were violated on a mass scale during and after World War I until civilian control of the country was again established.

We never made the return to democracy after World War II. The changes were more subtle this time, but just as deadly. Much of the take-over by the military was hidden behind the attacks on the military by Senator Joe McCarthy. But the military encroachment apparently is permanent.

The military power grab was the real key behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. A struggle which is already lost and is confirmed by the long list of strange deaths which have been recorded in "The Midlothian Mirror," in "Forgive My Grief," Vols. I and II, and in this book.

People in the United States pretend that President Kennedy was killed by a lone individual. All the rest of the world knows this is not true. It is really too late to continue to debate whether or not a conspiracy does exist to kill liberal leaders in this country. After the deaths of President Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Ambassador Stevenson (David Ferrie wrote, "Oh sure, we can easily get Fulbright the same we got S. when he was overseas--and nobody will ever suspect. They'll think it was a natural death.") and Medgar Evers, conspiracy debates should be ended.

A conspiracy does exist. Not only are liberal leaders killed when they threaten the establishment, at least sixty- eight others have had to die in order to keep the truth about the assassinations from getting out. (See: "Forgive My Grief" Vols. I and II, and "Saga Magazine," November 1968, for a list of thirty-two deaths. Others are recorded in later issues of "The Midlothian (Texas) Mirror.")

The really tragic fact in the United States is that the citizenry is uninformed or misinformed. The public has not read the record of these killings, therefore our people float lethargically in ignorance. And ignorance is cancer to democracy.

Even attorneys have not bothered to read the 26 volume record compiled by the Warren Commission. Honorable Charles W. Halleck, Federal Judge in Washington, D.C., did not read the record. Judge Halleck, who heard the case in which New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison attempted to obtain the autopsy photographs and x-rays of President Kennedy, complained that he had not had time to read the record. All the news media cooperated and conspired in misleading the people. Slanted coverage is the rule when any story is written concerning these deaths.

Our government too, conspired to keep our country in ignorance. Only 8,000 sets of the testimony and exhibits (26 volumes) were printed. How can 200,000,000 people know the facts when only 8,000 sets of books are available? There are 10,000 libraries in this country.

Amateur photographer Abraham Zapruder and Life Magazine conspired to maintain the ignorance of the public. Zapruder sold his famous film of the assassination for $1,000,000 then tried to pretend he only got $25,000. Life paid this fantastic sum for the 23 second film, not to make money, but to suppress the film. The original film is the most precious possession of Life. Both Life and Zapruder could have made millions by showing the film, but it has been shown only on court order or very sparingly to individuals who wangle a showing at the National Archives in Washington. New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison lost his battle to convict New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw of conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. But there was a positive "fringe benefit" from the trial. Garrison, by court order, obtained a copy of the Zapruder film and used it in the Shaw trial. Garrison showed the film to the entire courtroom nine times during the trial.

After viewing the film the most dogmatic newsman was convinced of a conspiracy that killed the President. All present in court heard repeatedly: "Yes, Garrison has proved a conspiracy, but Clay Shaw was not involved." How can one who cares for his country make such a statement in casual conversation. It could just as properly be restated: "Yes, Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, and his six associates on the Warren Commission lied and perjured themselves, but Clay Shaw was not involved." When a democracy has died, tears should be shed.

Showing the Zapruder film nine times to a crowded courtroom was a record for the film up to that time. Now, a small breakthrough has been made. One TV station in Los Angeles has dared to oppose Life Magazine and the station repeatedly showed a blackmarket, or stolen copy, of the Zapruder film to its viewing audience.

The film is convincing that there was a conspiracy. Proof of such a conspiracy is frightening. The enormity of the task for all of us is truly staggering. I do not know of a single individual who has viewed the film who still believed Lee Harvey Oswald alone killed President Kennedy. My impressions, which were confirmed by letters from people in the Los Angeles area, are reprinted below:

The Zapruder Film

FEBRUARY 20, 1969

I have seen the Zapruder film, and I can well understand why it has not been shown to the American people. No sane person can see that film and still protest that Kennedy was shot only from the back.

Just before the fatal head shot, Mrs. Kennedy is holding the President. She realizes he has been shot.

With the death shot, the head explodes, and the President's whole body is propelled out of his wife's hands so rapidly that Mrs. Kennedy is left with her hands outstretched and empty. The body of the President seems to be plunging down behind his wife from the force of the bullet. He was dead the instant of the massive head wound.

The movement of the President's body was so forceful, so rapid, my mind immediately made two comparisons. I thought of a hay baler plunger springing back to position after a block of hay has been compressed. I thought of the breech mechanism of a .45 automatic pistol that kicks to full open and remains locked there after the last shot in a clip is fired.

After seeing this short film, I sat stunned. I thought of the first witness of the day, FBI Agent Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt, a photography expert, who sat on the stand with hands trembling and told the court that he had seen the film many times and that he thought the material from the President's head flew forward-- indicating a shot from the rear.

Then I thought of the two Assistant United States Attorneys who escorted Shaneyfelt to the court room and asked permission of the court to remain present while Shaneyfelt testified. These men sitting on the same bench with me stared at "their boy" with stone faces all during the time he testified. That man seemed under house arrest.

I beg all of you. Do everything you can to force this government to take this film from Life Magazine and show it to the nation. It is the most important little piece of film ever exposed on this planet. And it holds the key to the welfare of this country.

I repeat, only in the United States is the one man assassination story accepted. The rest of the world knows better. The world has much less respect for us for they realize we too know the story is really not true, but we are too self satisfied, too afraid, to dare do anything about the lie told here and called the official story.

Historian Arnold Toynbee recently wrote: "The whole world is concerned for the United States seems to have lost her way."

Penn Jones, Jr.

Midlothian, Texas

When I first saw "JFK" on December 20th, the theater was primarily filled with younger people in their late teens or twenties. When the entire Zapruder film is first shown during the trial scene, the force of the collective gasp erupting from the movie audience--when the fatal head shot blasts Kennedy upwards and to the rear--reminded me of the degree to which the "uninitiated" are affected when viewing the visual recording of the murder itself and what a deep impression that initiation can make. Just *think* how differently our country would have responded if this 23 seconds of absolute reality was broadcast throughout the land on television, Friday night, November 22, 1963, in the same way the public was collectively bombarded by the Rodney King beating over a year ago!

It is time for us as citizens to seize this moment and re-commit ourselves to be actively engaged in ongoing processes of social interaction and interrelationship that can inspire compassion and empathy for others and their struggles, and nurture and free-up the growing expanded consciousness and awareness that will mould the ninties and all of our lives and relationships.

The following article contains a subset of the list of over 100 known people who died mysteriously after the assassination covered in detail in the four volumes of "Forgive My Grief." These deaths are the manifestations of a culture attempting to live by the lies doled out ever since that day when the feeling of humor, idealism and youthfully enthusiastic energy and optimism evoked in the person of John Kennedy, died.

--ratitor