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
And I said these two words, “Jack--why?”
He said, “When this thing happened”--referring to the assassination,
that he was in a newspaper office placing an ad for his business. That
when he heard about the assassination, he had canceled his ad and had
closed his business, and he had not done any business for 3 days. That
he had been grieving about this thing. That on the Friday night he had
gone to the synagogue and had heard a eulogy on the President. That his
sister had recently been operated on, and that she has been hysterical.
That when he saw that Mrs. Kennedy was going to have to appear for the
trial, he thought to himself, why should she have to go through this
ordeal for this no-good so-and-so.
Mr. HUBERT. Did he use any words or did he say “no-good so-and-so”?
Mr. SORRELS. He used the word “son-of-a-bitch,” as I recall.
Mr. HUBERT. All right.
Mr. SORRELS. That he had heard about the letter to little Caroline, as
I recall he mentioned. That he had been to the Western Union office to
send a telegram, and that he guessed he had worked himself into a state
of insanity to where he had to do it. And to use his words after that,
“I guess I just had to show the world that a Jew has guts.”
I, of course, asked him when he was born. He told me in Chicago, March
25, 1911. That he operated the Carousel Club. And also a Vegas Club.
I asked him if anyone else was involved in this thing besides him, and
he said that there was not.
I asked him if he knew Oswald before this thing happened, and he said
he did not. He said that he had been a labor organizer years ago.
I asked him if he had ever been convicted of any offense or done any
time, and he said no felony, that he had a JP release in 1954--in other
words, he had been arrested but released by the JP in 1954.
I asked him what his father’s name was, and he said his name was Joseph
Rubenstein.
I asked him where his father was born, and he said Russia.
I asked him if his mother was living, and he said no, that she was
deceased, and that she was born in Poland. That he was of the Jewish
faith.
I asked him if he had an attorney, and he said he had Stanley Kaufman,
a civil attorney, as his attorney. And I recall, I believe that is
about--that about terminated the conversation at that time.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you not ask him why he had the gun with him?
Mr. SORRELS. Oh, yes; I did.
I asked him why he had that gun, and he said that he carried a gun
because of the fact that he carried large quantities of money from his
business, or from the club.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you recall whether he made any comment to you or in your
hearing regarding the way he got into the basement area where he shot
Oswald?
Mr. SORRELS. At that time, I do not. I do not recall asking him how he
got in. I made no notes to that effect.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you remember him saying then anything about that he had
intended to shoot Oswald and had formed that intent as early as Friday?
Mr. SORRELS. No; I did not.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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