JFK
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The Kennedy Assassination And  The Conspiracy Theory 

Easily considered one of the darkest days in American history, anyone who was alive on November 22, 1963 remembers where he or she was when he or she heard that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.

While riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, Kennedy was shot at 12:30 p.m. as his car passed by the Texas School Book Depository. Texas governor John Connally, in the car with the President and Mrs. Kennedy, were also wounded.

It is widely accepted that Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee at the book depository, fired the shot that killed the president. The weapon found at the scene had his palm print on it. Oswald was apprehended a short time later after killing Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit with a handgun. No, there is little doubt that Oswald was the shooter, even though he never admitted to the crime. However, ever since that day, questions have been raised about why Oswald did it and whether he acted alone. He would never provide any answers; two days after the assassination, Oswald himself was shot dead by nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live television as news crews filmed the prisoner being moved.

With Oswald's death, conspiracy theorists began formulating explanations for many of the questions posed regarding Kennedy's assassination. A home movie of the motorcade and the shooting made by Abraham Zapruder gave supposed evidence of a second gunman on the "grassy knoll". Theories abounded as to who was behind the plot, everyone from Russia's KGB to protractors and detractors of Fidel Castro. Some even believed that then vice-president Lyndon Johnson and/or the CIA were involved. Then there was the organized crime theory and big bosses Carlos Marcello, Santo Trafficante and Jimmy Hoffa were all considered as the mastermind behind the plot. JFK's brother, Robert Kennedy was the Attorney General at the time, and one of the platforms of his blossoming political career was to prosecute the crime bosses. Evidence was presented to the Warren Commission linking both Jack Ruby and Oswald to organized crime.

The Warren Commission was to investigate all evidence and issue a report detailing their findings. When they came under heavy criticism for their handling of the situation, the House Select Committee on Assassinations was formed to re-investigate Kennedy's assassination as well as those of Robert Kennedy in 1968 and of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This committee heard and dismissed most of the same evidence on conspiracies. New evidence of acoustic wave patterns recorded on a Dictabelt in Dallas convinced them, however, that there were, indeed, two gunmen. This evidence was later discounted by experts from the Committee of Ballistic Acoustics of the National Research Council.

With all of the major players now deceased, the question of why one of the most beloved presidents in the history of the United States was gunned down will never be answered. A good man died, but the questions never will.

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