Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. KennedyUnited States. Warren Commission
History
Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
tried to get by the reporters, stepping over television cables
and you couldn’t hardly get by, they would grab you and wanted
to know what you were doing down here, even with the detectives
one in front and one behind you.[C5-65]
The television cameras continued to record the scene on the third floor
as some of the newsmen kept vigil through the night.[C5-66]
Such police efforts as there were to control the newsmen were
unavailing. Capt. Glen D. King, administrative assistant to Chief
Curry, witnessed efforts to clear an aisle through the hallway, but
related that “this was a constant battle because of the number of
newsmen who were there. They would move back into the aisleway that had
been cleared. They interfered with the movement of people who had to
be there.”[C5-67] According to one detective, “they would be asked to
stand back and stay back but it wouldn’t do much good, and they would
push forward and you had to hold them off physically.” The detective
recalled that on one occasion when he was escorting a witness through
the corridor he “stopped * * * and looked down and there was a joker
had a camera stuck between * * * [his] legs taking pictures. * *
*”[C5-68] Forrest V. Sorrels of the Secret Service had the impression
that the “press and the television people just * * * took over.”[C5-69]
Police control over the access of other than newsmen to the third floor
was of limited but increasing effectiveness after Oswald’s arrival
at the police department. Initially no steps were taken to exclude
unauthorized persons from the third floor corridor, but late Friday
afternoon Assistant Chief Charles Batchelor stationed guards at the
elevators and the stairway to prevent the admission of such persons. He
also directed the records room in the basement to issue passes, after
verification by the bureaus involved, to people who had legitimate
business on the third floor.[C5-70] Throughout the 3 days of Oswald’s
detention, the police were obliged to continue normal business in
all five bureaus located along the third floor hallway. Thus many
persons--relatives of prisoners, complainants, witnesses[C5-71]--had
occasion to visit police offices on the third floor on business
unrelated to the investigation of the assassination.
Newsmen seeking admission to the third floor were required to identify
themselves by their personal press cards; however, the department
did not follow its usual procedure of checking the authenticity of
press credentials.[C5-72] Captain King felt that this would have
been impossible in light of “the atmosphere that existed over there,
the tremendous pressures that existed, the fact that telephones were
ringing constantly, that there were droves of people in there * * *
the fact that the method by which you positively identify someone * * *
it’s not easy.”[C5-73]
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 2631
Oswald being moved through third floor corridor.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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