Warren Commission (15 of 26): Hearings Vol. XV (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (15 of 26): Hearings Vol. XV (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
The door from the elevator, the jail elevator--the ones used for the
transportation of prisoners--is south of the doorway of the homicide
and robbery bureau where the interrogations were conducted, and
whenever Oswald was brought down from the jail or taken back from
homicide and robbery to the jail, he had to pass through this area.
There was noise out there--a considerable amount of noise out there,
and I think this must have been a disquieting thing.
Mr. HUBERT. And you mentioned that your general policy about the
cooperation of the press had an exception, and that is, when it would
interfere with an investigation, and you have, I think, demonstrated
now that in your opinion there was interference with the investigation?
Captain KING. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you know of any effort made by anyone to invoke the
exception to the general rule?
Captain KING. I think no effort was made. I think that the decision was
made without ever having been stated, actually, that this was certainly
not a normal circumstance; that the newsmen should be allowed to remain
in there.
The news cameramen first arrived--I don’t recall the time it was--it
was a short time after the death of the President or the shooting, and
Chief Lunday, as I recall, is our traffic division chief. He was the
only chief officer in the department who had returned. We checked--they
wanted to bring their cameras up to the third floor, and we checked
with Chief Lunday to see if it was permissible, and I was told it would
be.
Mr. HUBERT. You did that yourself?
Captain KING. Yes. I am thinking it was Chief Lunday--it was either
Chief Lunday or Chief Lumpkin, and did receive permission for them
to bring their cables through the windows. Of course, the number of
newsmen in the beginning was less than it later became, and more and
more came in.
Mr. HUBERT. At the time you checked the matter with Chief Lunday or
perhaps it was Lumpkin, your thought was that at that time the presence
of the press would not constitute interference?
Captain KING. We didn’t--I didn’t have any idea at that time that we
would have the number that we had.
Mr. HUBERT. Well, did it occur to you at any later time that the number
had increased to the point that something ought to be done about it?
Captain KING. The obvious answer is “yes”, but it didn’t actually. The
newsmen out there, I guess you become accustomed to them out there,
or accustomed to the idea of them being out there, once you have
decided that they are going to be permitted to be there, and it was
the obvious policy of the department at that time that they would be
permitted to be there and so far as my ever mentioning to anyone else
or recommending to anyone else or suggesting to anyone else that they
should be removed--I did not.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you hear anyone else suggest that the situation was
getting out of hand, if it was, in fact, sir?
Captain KING. I don’t recall having done so.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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