A CONSPIRACY THEORIST SAID:
That look he [Lee Oswald] gives when told he is being charged with the President's murder is priceless.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
I think there might be just a small bit of a "surprised" reaction on Oswald's face for just an instant after the reporter tells him (for the second time): "You have been charged" with JFK's murder.
But, in my opinion, the major reaction that I see from Oswald at his famous midnight press conference is more DISGUST and ANNOYANCE. (Poor Lee Harvey truly looks annoyed and PUT OUT when he's being removed from that room right after his brief press conference.)
In other words [simulating Oswald's feelings at that moment] -- "HOW DARE THEY TREAT ME LIKE THIS! ALL I DID WAS KILL THE PRESIDENT AND A POLICEMAN! I'M GONNA SUE THESE DAMN COPS FOR CHARGING ME WITH AN ASSASSINATION I COMMITTED!"
Now, when analyzing this a little bit more, since all reasonable people who have studied the JFK assassination know beyond any and all doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President Kennedy, this immutable FACT of Oswald's guilt HAS to mean that Oswald could not possibly have been VERY surprised by the news that he was being officially charged with the President's murder.
Knowing that he assassinated Kennedy AND that he had left a popcorn trail of physical evidence behind on the sixth floor of the Book Depository Building AND that he had been arrested earlier in the day on a charge of murdering a policeman, Oswald therefore couldn't possibly have thought that he WOULDN'T eventually be officially charged with the President's murder too.
Unless Oswald was completely retarded (which he certainly wasn't), he had to realize that Presidential assassins aren't normally given just a light slap on the wrist and a $10 fine for having assassinated a U.S. President.
Given these undeniable facts regarding Oswald's guilt, there's no way that Lee Harvey could have been shocked very much (if at all) when the reporter told him he had already been charged with JFK's assassination.
Here's my guess (and I fully admit this is just a wild guess, and I certainly could be wrong about this)---
Oswald looked a little bit surprised possibly due to the fact that a NEWS REPORTER was breaking the news to him that he was being charged with the death of the President.
This was probably a very unusual case where the prisoner (being held in a police station, with policemen and detectives all around him for ten hours!) first learned of a murder charge against him from a news reporter, instead of first learning of that murder charge from the police themselves. This possibly startled and surprised Oswald a little bit, to hear that news FIRST from a newsman, vs. the cops who were surrounding him.
Again, that's just a pure guess on my part. But there's no way in Hades that Oswald truly thought he WOULDN'T be charged with JFK's murder, in light of the massive amount of evidence he conveniently left behind (not to mention the circumstantial stuff, such as the many lies he told the police in those first ten hours of interrogation).
I'll also add this -- It's quite possible that Oswald didn't even hear the reporter say the words "You have been charged". There was quite a bit of noise in that room at that particular time, so maybe Oswald didn't even hear the reporter. On the videotape version of the midnight press conference, the reporter's words "You have been charged" are, indeed, quite audible and clear. But from where Oswald was standing, I'm wondering if he heard those words as clearly as we do on the videotape? We can never know this for certain, of course.
But if, in fact, Oswald didn't even hear the reporter, it puts a whole new light on any "reaction" that we see on LHO's face, because under those conditions, it would obviously mean that Oswald's reaction wasn't one of "surprise" at all.
PAT SPEER SAID:
David, your response to this reeks of desperation.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Thanks, Pat.
Now, continue reading and we'll see who the "desperate" one is....
PAT SPEER SAID:
Outside of Kennedy's back and to the left motion after frame 313, the response of Oswald to being charged is one of the main reasons so many think he was a patsy.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Very weak in both instances, Pat. If those two things are the BEST that the "Oswald Was Only A Patsy" conspiracy theorists can muster, then Earl Warren and his Commission's conclusions are home free.
PAT SPEER SAID:
I remember, years before I ever saw the footage, my mom telling me how Oswald sneered and smirked at the midnight press conference. When I started researching the case, I noticed how men like Posner routinely described Oswald's reaction as a self-satisfied smirk, or some such thing. I even found references to Oswald's smirk in reputable publications within weeks of the assassination. So, when I finally saw the footage, I was absolutely shocked by what I witnessed. Oswald was completely DEFLATED by the news he'd been charged, and almost started crying! The "smirk" and "self-satisfaction" so widely reported was a LIE.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Regardless of WHO is doing the examining of Oswald's "reaction" to being told by a newsman that he had been charged with JFK's murder, it's always going to be a purely subjective opinion. I fully admit that, too.
But, in my own subjective opinion, I think Oswald's reaction is more akin to ANNOYANCE and IRRITATION than it is SURPRISE and/or DEFLATION.
As I explained previously, since all reasonable people have got to know Oswald killed Kennedy, then how on Earth could Oswald have really and truly been TOTALLY SURPRISED (or SHOCKED) by the news that he was being charged with the murder that he HAD committed about twelve hours earlier in Dealey Plaza?
Answer: He couldn't.
But your "almost started crying" remark was a nice touch, though, Pat. (Maybe Mr. Speer is showing some of that "desperation" he attributed to me a little while ago. Ya think?)
[An addendum regarding Oswald's "smirk" is HERE.]
PAT SPEER SAID:
Whether Oswald was guilty or not guilty of killing Kennedy, he clearly hoped he would not be charged with the crime.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Well, I guess O.J. Simpson also "hoped" he wouldn't be charged with the two murders he committed in 1994. But a lot of times "hope" and "reality" don't go together.
So, whether or not Oswald held out any "hope" for not being officially charged with the crime of assassinating President Kennedy, the stark REALITY of the situation (based on the EVIDENCE of Oswald's guilt) certainly indicates that Lee Harvey Oswald should not have been "surprised" at all by the news he was going to be held accountable for murdering the 35th Chief Executive.
As an addendum here, I'll include this brief e-mail conversation I had with Gary Mack of The Sixth Floor Museum At Dealey Plaza:
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Subject: Oswald's "Reaction" At The Midnight Press Conference
Date: 3/1/2010 6:00:14 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Gary Mack
To: David Von Pein
----------------------
Dave,
The reporter who told Oswald he had been charged was KRLD’s Bill Mercer, who was kneeling right in front of him. Mercer, like most reporters in the room, had already heard unofficially from Dallas Police that Oswald had been charged with killing Kennedy. What they didn’t know was that the police had not yet notified Oswald, hence his surprise. I suspect he was just upset that he hadn’t been told.
Gary Mack
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Subject: Re: Oswald's "Reaction" At The Midnight Press Conference
Date: 3/2/2010 12:15:51 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: David Von Pein
To: Gary Mack
----------------------
Hi Gary,
[Your] explanation is pretty close to the one I speculated about in my Internet article, i.e., Oswald was surprised to hear that news from a reporter instead of from the police.
Thanks for the Mercer info too. I knew that I had heard (somewhere) the identity of the reporter, but I could not recall it when I wrote that online article.
Regards,
David V.P.
====================================
David Von Pein
March 1-2, 2010
