Why did the Warren Commission decide that John F Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald acting on his own?
There were several reasons why the Warren Commission decided that John F Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald acting on his own. He had the motive, the means and the opportunity, all of which contributed to their decision.
Source F has told me that Oswald was heavily involved with left wing politics. In the previous town he had lived in; New Orleans; he set up a new branch of the ‘Fair Play for Cuba Committee’. As JFK had already launched the Bay of Pigs Invasion to try and invade Cuba, Oswald would already be feeling a lot of anger. Also, Source F also tells me that Oswald’s wife was Russian and that Oswald had lived in Russia with her for 6 weeks. During this period of time; America was at war with Russia; the Cold War. This may have added to Oswald’s dislike for the current Government and it’s leader; the President; John F. Kennedy. So Oswald certainly had the motive for the assassination, he was angered by how the President was dealing with the Cuban situation and he may have been angered at the whole war with Russia; this anger may have lead to him assassinating JFK.
The means is the weapon that was used in the assassination. Eye witness statements from Source E say that Oswald carried a long paper bag with him to work on the morning of the 22nd November. His neighbour said that the paper bag was around 28 inches long and the person with whom he was given a lift to work by concluded that when Oswald left for work on the morning of 22 November he was carrying a long paper bag that was roughly 27 inches long. A bag of this length would have been long enough to conceal a dismantled rifle. The rifle that the Warren Commission decided was used to assassinate the President was a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle; they decided this as they found 3 shells from a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository; this is where some people said they saw the shots coming form. A rifle of this make had been purchased by an ‘A Hidell’; the rifle was delivered to PO Box 2915 Dallas, Texas. Oswald was in possession of a fake id with the name of Alec J Hidell; he had also rented the PO Box 2915. Purchasing a rifle with a fake id in America is a very strange thing to do, in America anyone guns are a very common thing and are not against the law as long as you are above a certain age; which Oswald was. As he purchased it under a fake name it seemed like he didn’t want people to know it had been him who had purchased the rifle; this seems very suspicious and makes it seem like that was the murder weapon. With this information the Warren Commission decided that Oswald had been in possession of the make of rifle that they had concluded was used to assassinate President Kennedy. Also, Oswald’s wife, Marina Oswald, stated that her husband owned a rifle, which he kept in the garage at the house they were living in. After a search of the garage the rifle could not be found.
