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
Shortly after 9 o’clock Sunday morning, policemen cleared the basement
of all but police personnel. Guards were stationed at the top of the
Main and Commerce Streets auto ramps leading down into the basement,
at each of the five doorways into the garage, and at the double doors
leading to the public hallway adjacent to the jail office. Then, Sgt.
Patrick T. Dean, acting under instructions from Talbert, directed
14 men in a search of the garage. Maintenance workers were directed
to leave the area. The searchers examined the rafters, tops of air
conditioning ducts, and every closet and room opening off the garage.
They searched the interior and trunk compartment of automobiles parked
in the garage. The two passenger elevators in the central part of the
garage were not in service and the doors were shut and locked; the
service elevator was moved to the first floor, and the operator was
instructed not to return it to the basement.[C5-111]
Despite the thoroughness with which the search was conducted, there
still existed one and perhaps two weak points in controlling access
to the garage. Testimony did not resolve positively whether or not
the stairway door near the public elevators was locked both from the
inside and outside as was necessary to secure it effectively.[C5-112]
And although guards were stationed near the double doors, the hallway
near the jail office was accessible to people from inside the Police
and Courts Building without the necessity of presenting identification.
Until seconds before Oswald was shot, newsmen hurrying to photograph
Oswald were able to run without challenge through those doors into the
basement.[C5-113]
After the search had been completed, the police allowed news
representatives to reenter the basement area and gather along the
entrance to the garage on the east side of the ramp. Later, the police
permitted the newsmen to stand in front of the railing on the east side
of the ramp leading to Main Street. The policemen deployed by Talbert
and Dean had instructions to allow no one but identified news media
representatives into the basement. As before, the police accepted any
credentials that appeared authentic, though some officers did make
special efforts to check for pictures and other forms of corroborating
identification. Many newsmen reported that they were checked on more
than one occasion while they waited in the basement. A small number did
not recall that their credentials were ever checked.[C5-114]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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