Warren Commission (02 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (02 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. LANE. Surely. In any event, whether there was another rifle or
not, the rifle portrayed in the picture is clearly--in the picture in
which Oswald is allegedly holding the rifle--clearly is not the rifle
allegedly claimed to be the murder weapon. I wonder if I might ask the
Commission if it might produce the rifle now, so that we might compare
the actual rifle with the pictures.
The CHAIRMAN. We will do that in due course. But we don't have the
rifle here now, Mr. Lane. We will make the proper comparisons, you may
be sure, with experts.
Mr. LANE. Now, on another peripheral matter--unless there are any
further questions in relation to this matter----
Mr. RANKIN. No, you may proceed. Do you have negatives of these
pictures you have produced?
Mr. LANE. No. I am glad you asked that question, because I can now
relate to you about a conversation that I had 2 or 3 days ago with
a Mr. Dirksen, who is on the photo desk of the Associated Press. I
called Mr. Dirksen and asked him for a glossy of the picture which the
Associated Press sent out over the wire service.
Mr. RANKIN. Could you identify Mr. Dirksen a little more clearly?
Mr. LANE. He just told me he was employed. I called the Associated
Press in New York City and asked for the photo desk, Mr. Dirksen
answered and said he was employed there. I asked him what his specific
position was there, and he declined to give me that information. He
said he didn't think it was relevant.
In any event, I asked him if he could secure for me a glossy, a glossy
copy of the picture sent by the Associated Press over the wires. And
I described the picture as the one of Oswald allegedly holding the
murder weapon in his left hand, and having on his right hip a pistol,
allegedly the pistol with which he slew Officer Tippit.
Mr. Dirksen stated to me that he could not make a glossy of that
picture available to me and I pointed out to him that in the past the
Associated Press had been most cooperative when I asked for pictures,
and he said, "Yes, we sent a whole batch up to you last week, didn't
we?" I said, "Yes, you did, I appreciated that. I wonder why this
picture is being treated differently from other pictures." He said,
"This is not a normal picture and this is not the normal situation."
I asked him what he meant by that. He explained that there was a
special contract--he did not have all the details, he said, because
he is not one of the persons who was involved in drafting the
contract--but there was a special contract between the Associated Press
and the source of this picture, and they agreed, the Associated Press
agreed in this contract that they would not make a glossy available
to anyone, that they would send the pictures out only to their
subscribers, and that no one else would be allowed to see the picture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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