Warren Commission (13 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIII (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (13 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIII (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. HUBERT. Then, we mark a line from 9 to 10, with point 10 being
immediately to the right of point 6 where you were standing?
Mr. PHENIX. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Then, you say there were policemen along in that line too?
Mr. PHENIX. Yes; police and press.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, take it from there.
Mr. PHENIX. Well, from there I waited until--I believe it was a
United Press International movie photographer, Isidore, or something,
everybody called him Izzie--I don’t know his last name, came running
down from the swinging doors, I think he was the one, and said, “He’s
coming,” meaning Oswald, so we all got ready, and the camera has an
eyepiece----
Mr. HUBERT. Your camera?
Mr. PHENIX. Right; that operates through a prism that looks directly
through the lens, so I had to have my eyes stuck against the eyepiece
in order to see through it. So, from then on, all I saw was Oswald
coming down the hallway there, and I didn’t actually--I wasn’t aware of
seeing Ruby step out of the crowd--I knew something had happened and
the shot--at the shot somebody came roaring in from my left and almost
knocked me down. The unipod was braced on the curb and it slipped down
to the main level of the ramp and almost fell, and looking through the
eyepiece and over the eyepiece, too, just shooting out of habit really,
the camera was running all the time--I followed the action of the
policeman wrestling with Ruby--it just happened that they moved to my
right.
Mr. HUBERT. Your film, as a matter of fact, is that famous film that
catches Ruby moving forward and the wrestling?
Mr. PHENIX. Right; I just saw it once and we were so busy, but I think
it was the one where Ruby’s hat was in the corner of the opening frame
and he steps out.
Mr. HUBERT. You have seen it since, haven’t you?
Mr. PHENIX. Oh, yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you know Ruby?
Mr. PHENIX. No.
Mr. HUBERT. Had you observed him in the crowd prior to these events?
Mr. PHENIX. I can’t remember it. I heard someone say in the crowd after
they took Ruby and after Oswald left in the ambulance that it was Jack
Ruby, and the name didn’t mean a thing to me.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you hear anybody running down the ramp just before the
shooting, running down or possibly walking down?
Mr. PHENIX. No, I think if he had been running I would have heard him
because the sound just echoes in that basement.
I saw some film, and I’m sure you’ve seen it too, some of the film
that showed Ruby positioned down there, and he looks back where you
catch almost a full shot of his face before Oswald comes down, and that
anyway--it just looks like he was there for a while.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you hear Ruby say anything?
Mr. PHENIX. No; maybe in the excitement I heard him, but I don’t
remember hearing this famous quotation about “Jack, you S. O. B.”
Mr. HUBERT. You didn’t hear anybody; hear anything, including
Ruby--anything distinguishable that you now remember?
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