JFK Assassination Forum

In the still from the Martin film above it looks like the gates are closed but they're not.
When the gates are wide open they rest against the interior wall. The shadows of the diamond pattern on the gates can be seen being cast against the wall.

There is a much simpler, more logical conspiracy scenario, one that has plenty of precedents in other plots and in numerous military operations. It is simply this: The plan was to kill JFK with one, two, or three shots being fired, ideally just one or two shots, so that the shooting could be attributed to a single gunman. However, the shooting did not go according to plan, just as many carefully planned and rehearsed military operations have not gone according to plan.

The goal of the shooting, to kill JFK, was achieved, but several of the shots missed, and one of the missed shots hit Connally. Almost immediately, the news media, being spoon-fed by official sources, assumed only three shots were fired and that there was only one gunman. The throat entry wound was initially explained by the claim that JFK had turned around to look behind the limo, but then came the autopsy report several days later. The WC was forced to ignore all the accounts of extra missed shots and of shots from the grassy knoll, to dismiss Gov. Connally's compelling testimony, and to concoct the ridiculous single-bullet theory. The military personnel at the autopsy were placed under gag orders and threatened with court martial if they failed to obey. The Parkland doctors' troubling accounts were dismissed as the sincere errors of men who were working too hurriedly to accurately identify and diagnose the wounds, and some of the Parkland doctors were pressured or felt obliged to change their accounts to conform with the autopsy report (but others did not).

For the first two years or so, this cover-up story worked and was widely accepted. However, by 1967, with the publication of Mark Lane's book Rush to Judgment in August 1966 and Sylvia Meagher's book Accessories After the Fact in 1967, this began to change. Polls began to show a sizable majority of Americans rejecting the lone-gunman explanation.

Just so I understand correctly:

You are postulating that there was at least two, if not more, military-trained professional marksmen taking the shots?
Is that correct?

You agree the distances are small and the head shot is an incredibly easy shot to make for an expert marksman?
You agree only one shot actually found it's mark (JFK's head)?
How many shots do you propose actually missed their mark (JFK's head)?

LATER EDIT: And what is your opinion about the arguments put forward in this thread for choosing the position behind the picket fence to take a shot?

This is Royell's most recent post regarding his Huge Gates theory.
It pretty much sums up his thinking on the matter:

 "I believe that Assassin(s) Entry and Exit from the TSBD was done via the Huge Gates that were attached to the side of the TSBD along the Elm St. Extension. Officer Luke Mooney gave WC Testimony regarding his walking through these "Wide Open" gates, about 5-6  minutes after the Kill Shot. Mooney then entered the TSBD 1st floor in very close proximity to the stairwell and freight elevators. These gates were "wide open" on the Towner Film prior to the Kill Shot, and are still  "Wide Open" after the Kill Shot, (Couch Film). (The gates opened Inward). After walking through the Huge Gates, Officer Mooney testified as to closing them. His closing of these gates would be at about 6-7 minutes after the Kill Shot. (The gates can be seen to be closed on the Martin Film as Amos Euins is filmed on the back of the Officer Harkin's 3 wheel motorcycle racing down the Elm St Ext). The assassin(s) could have easily walked through the "wide open" Huge Gates shortly before shots were fired. They then entered the TSBD 1st Floor and immediately walked up the close by stairwell to the 6th floor. They exited the TSBD in reverse manner and simply mixed into the stunned eyewitnesses outside of the TSBD."

Just to clear up a few inaccuracies.

1) Officer Luke Mooney gave WC Testimony regarding his walking through these "Wide Open" gates, about 5-6  minutes after the Kill Shot.

Mooney does not testify that he walked through the gates about 5 - 6 minutes after the "Kill Shot"

2) His closing of these gates would be at about 6-7 minutes after the Kill Shot.

There is photographic evidence that the gates were still wide open at 12:40 pm

3) The gates can be seen to be closed on the Martin Film as Amos Euins is filmed on the back of the Officer Harkin's 3 wheel motorcycle racing down the Elm St Ext

The gates are wide open in this footage.

IMO
The CTer alternative to Oswald taking the shots always seems to involve professional hitman/snipers or even teams of them at various points in and around Dealey Plaza. Apparently the plan being to have people firing from all different angles while trying to make it look like there is only one guy firing three shots from a specific location.
Imagine the planning meeting for that!
Surely someone would've pointed out the impossibility of this plan or the stupidity of it.
These guys are professionals after all, highly trained and organised...

Q: ...and how many people should we expect in Dealey Plaza?

A: I'm not sure, it could be hundreds, it could even be thousands. People could be swarming all over the Grassy Knoll and behind the picket fence. We have no way of knowing but we're going to assume the crowds have disappeared by this point.

Q: What's a grassy Noel?

The target is JFK's head.
A professional hit would involve a single shot to the head.
Of the three clearly audible shots reported by over 160 witnesses, only one hits the target. If there are more shots than three, these also miss the target making the whole escapade even more sloppy.
I've never been, but anyone I've ever heard talk about Dealey Plaza are amazed at how small it is, how small the distances are.
For a professional, a head shot in these circumstances is easy.
For an amateur it involves missing the limo and all it's occupants completely, hitting JFK but not in the right place and, eventually a head shot (but not necessarily in that order).
The speed of the three shots implies panic, not a cool head.
And the most important fact is this - JFK is shot through the throat and there is, at the very least, a 5 second gap between this non-fatal shot happening and the fatal head shot. In this 5 second gap anything could happen: the limo speeds off or starts evasive swerving manoeuvres, one of the Secret Service agents actually does his job and makes it to JFK and covers him or JFK slumps all the way over to his left, puts his head in Jackie's lap and is impossible to hit, or any other number of scenarios where the head shot cannot be made.
The point is this - there is a truly massive slice of luck involved in the assassination of JFK.
Professionals would not find themselves in a situation that involved this amount of luck.
The assassination is perpetrated by a non-professional.
IMO

There is a much simpler, more logical conspiracy scenario, one that has plenty of precedents in other plots and in numerous military operations. It is simply this: The plan was to kill JFK with one, two, or three shots being fired, ideally just one or two shots, so that the shooting could be attributed to a single gunman. However, the shooting did not go according to plan, just as many carefully planned and rehearsed military operations have not gone according to plan.

The goal of the shooting, to kill JFK, was achieved, but several of the shots missed, and one of the missed shots hit Connally. Almost immediately, the news media, being spoon-fed by official sources, assumed only three shots were fired and that there was only one gunman. The throat entry wound was initially explained by the claim that JFK had turned around to look behind the limo, but then came the autopsy report several days later. The WC was forced to ignore all the accounts of extra missed shots and of shots from the grassy knoll, to dismiss Gov. Connally's compelling testimony, and to concoct the ridiculous single-bullet theory. The military personnel at the autopsy were placed under gag orders and threatened with court martial if they failed to obey. The Parkland doctors' troubling accounts were dismissed as the sincere errors of men who were working too hurriedly to accurately identify and diagnose the wounds, and some of the Parkland doctors were pressured or felt obliged to change their accounts to conform with the autopsy report (but others did not).

For the first two years or so, this cover-up story worked and was widely accepted. However, by 1967, with the publication of Mark Lane's book Rush to Judgment in August 1966 and Sylvia Meagher's book Accessories After the Fact in 1967, this began to change. Polls began to show a sizable majority of Americans rejecting the lone-gunman explanation.

 
   At no time during Officer Haygood's WC Testimony does he say he heard Chief Curry's command, "get a man on top of that Triple Underpass.......". Haygood did testify that he saw people on the ground pointing back up to the railroad yard, along with a couple of people being headed back up that way. This prompted Haygood to park his motorcycle at the curb and then run up the grassy knoll toward the railroad yard. This is one of the many reasons that being familiar with Sworn Testimony is important. It prevents Urban Legends from being created and/or passed along.

You are quite correct, Royell.
That was an assumption on my part and should have been stated as such.
Seconds after the shooting, Curry gives the command - "Get a man on top of that triple underpass and see what happened up there".
Haygood has a radio on his bike so can hear the transmission and does exactly what Curry commanded but, as you correctly point out, Haygood never specifically states that this is what happened.

Just to get back to the point of the topic...
...the argument for 'teams' of professionals or multiple professional marksmen often revolves around a shot from the GK.
There are a few reasons often cited to support this argument, one of which is that a large number of people seem to head up to the picket fence area in the immediate aftermath of the shooting which suggests a shot came from there.
In fact, this is not the case.
Apart from one man who races up the steps on seeing the head shot (I believe his wife and infant child are on a bench at the top of the steps) there is a gap of approximately 30 seconds before anyone thinks to run up the GK.
This excellent Cabluck/Cancellare composite from Robin Unger's gallery shows the exact moment (I've added the blue letters for enhancement). These four kids appear to be running after Haygood and end up following him to the top of the triple underpass.



The hordes of people approaching from the corner of Main and Houston, across the open grassy area of Dealey Plaza, see people running  around the GK area and head for that. It is nothing to do with hearing shots from that area and witnesses like Marilyn Sitzman, stood feet away from this area, completely refute any notion of an audible shot from this area.