Warren Commission (03 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (03 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. BRENNAN. I believe I reached home quarter to three or something of
that, 15 minutes either way, and I saw his picture twice on television
before I went down to the police station for the lineup.
Mr. BELIN. Now, is there anything else you told the officers at the
time of the lineup?
Mr. BRENNAN. Well, I told them I could not make a positive
identification.
Mr. BELIN. When you told them that, did you ever later tell any officer
or investigating person anything different?
Mr. BRENNAN. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. When did that happen?
Mr. BRENNAN. I believe some days later--I don't recall exactly--and I
believe the Secret Service man identified hisself as being Williams,
I believe, from Houston. I won't swear to that--whether his name was
Williams or not.
Mr. BELIN. All right.
Mr. BRENNAN. And he could have been an FBI. As far as I remember, it
could have been FBI instead of Secret Service.
But I believe it was a Secret Service man from Houston.
And I----
Mr. BELIN. What did he say to you and what did you say to him?
Mr. BRENNAN. Well, he asked me--he said, "You said you couldn't make a
positive identification."
He said, "Did you do that for security reasons personally, or couldn't
you?"
And I told him I could with all honesty, but I did it more or less for
security reasons--my family and myself.
Mr. BELIN. What do you mean by security reasons for your family and
yourself?
Mr. BRENNAN. I believe at that time, and I still believe it was a
Communist activity, and I felt like there hadn't been more than one
eyewitness, and if it got to be a known fact that I was an eyewitness,
my family or I, either one, might not be safe.
Mr. BELIN. Well, if you wouldn't have identified him, might he not have
been released by the police?
Mr. BRENNAN. Beg pardon?
Mr. BELIN. If you would not have identified that man positively, might
he not have been released by the police?
Mr. BRENNAN. No. That had a great contributing factor--greater
contributing factor than my personal reasons was that I already knew
they had the man for murder, and I knew he would not be released.
Mr. BELIN. The murder of whom?
Mr. BRENNAN. Of Officer Tippit.
Mr. BELIN. Well, what happened in between to change your mind that you
later decided to come forth and tell them you could identify him?
Mr. BRENNAN. After Oswald was killed, I was relieved quite a bit that
as far as pressure on myself of somebody not wanting me to identify
anybody, there was no longer that immediate danger.
Mr. BELIN. What is the fact as to whether or not your having seen
Oswald on television would have affected your identification of him one
way or the other?
Mr. BRENNAN. That is something I do not know.
Mr. BELIN. Mr. Brennan, could you tell us now whether you can or cannot
positively identify the man you saw on the sixth floor window as the
same man that you saw in the police station?
Mr. BRENNAN. I could at that time--I could, with all sincerity,
identify him as being the same man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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