Warren Commission (14 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIV (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (14 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIV (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. SENATOR. Yes, it was in the club. It was in the hallway near the
stairs. But it happened to be I didn’t see it because I happened to be
around the side and all I caught is the tail end.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you know when?
Mr. SENATOR. That was in 1962.
Mr. HUBERT. Did he knock the man off his feet?
Mr. SENATOR. I don’t know. But I know he got the first lick in.
Mr. HUBERT. How do you know that? He told you?
Mr. SENATOR. No, I heard he always gets the first lick in. He ain’t
going to get hit first if he can help it, if it comes to an argument.
Mr. HUBERT. Is this the opinion that is generally held?
Mr. SENATOR. I don’t know if that is the opinion that is generally held
or not.
Mr. HUBERT. What I am trying to get at is how you got it. Is that your
opinion then that he always gets the first lick in?
Mr. SENATOR. I would say so because he is pretty fast for his age.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What was the provocation for his hitting the fellow at the
club?
Mr. SENATOR. I think this chap here was getting a little loud. I don’t
remember what the incident was. I think he was making a scene there of
some nature.
Mr. HUBERT. Those are the only two occasions that you yourself knew
about from having observed them yourself?
Mr. SENATOR. Oh, I have seen him push somebody out without hitting him.
Mr. HUBERT. Have you seen that often?
Mr. SENATOR. No, I don’t say often. I have seen it happen. And when it
has happened, he happened to hold down certain people.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you ever hear him threaten anybody?
Mr. SENATOR. No.
Mr. HUBERT. Like throwing them down the stairs?
Mr. SENATOR. I have heard somebody talk about that. Who did I hear? Oh
yes, I’ll tell you where that was quoted. When I was on the witness
stand and Mr. Alexander asked me that.
The question he asked me, if I can quote him, was that he picked on
nothing but small men who were drunk and women who were drunk and beat
them up.
Mr. HUBERT. What was your answer?
Mr. SENATOR. If I recall right, he sort of hollered at me a bit if I
remember right.
Mr. HUBERT. Who did?
Mr. SENATOR. Mr. Alexander.
Mr. HUBERT. But in any case what is the truth?
Mr. SENATOR. What did I answer him?
Mr. HUBERT. What you answered I suppose is the truth. What is the truth
as to that question.
Mr. SENATOR. I’ll tell you how I answered him.
Mr. HUBERT. Yes, all right; tell us that first.
Mr. SENATOR. I answered him, I said to Jack Ruby, height has nothing to
do with it, or something to that effect if I remember right. It doesn’t
make any difference if the man is bigger than Jack Ruby because that
isn’t going to stop him. Jack Ruby isn’t afraid of height or size,
something like that I answered him.
Mr. HUBERT. That is your opinion now, too?
Mr. SENATOR. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. And you base that opinion on what?
Mr. SENATOR. In other words, I base this opinion to say, when I was
asked this question on the witness stand, that all he would do would
beat up people who were smaller than he and who were drunk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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