Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

We have dealt with this issue before of Oswald's statement to the reporter when asked, "Were you in the building at the time? His response was: "I work in that building. Naturally, if I work in that building, yes Sir." You can listen to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FDDuRSgzFk

But, as you watch it, I want you to notice how crowded that corridor was. Do you really think they led Billy Lovelady through that awful maze shortly before just to make a statement? 

Notice that Oswald stated repeatedly and vociferously that he did not shoot Kennedy and he did not shoot anyone. 

Our opponents think that when asked if he was in the building at the time that Oswald should have distinguished between being inside the building and being just outside the front door on the landing of the entrance. However, Oswald didn't know that his picture was taken on the landing.  And whether he was on the landing or on the other side of the door inside made no difference- he was just as innocent either way. And what mattered most is what he told police, and what he told police was that he was "out with Bill Shelley in front." 

So, when it really counted, when Oswald accounted for his whereabouts during the assassination to police, he said that he was out with Bill Shelley in front. 

But, when you are on that landing, and I have been on that landing, you really do feel like you are within the confines of that building. It's a deep but narrow entranceway, and you are surrounded by building on four sides: above, below, to your right, and to your left, It's like a cave, and he was in back of the cave. When you are in a cave, you feel like you are inside- even though you can see the opening to the outside. That's how it was for Oswald. 

That entranceway is within the confines of the TSBD, and he was standing amidst other employees of the TSBD. He was in the TSBD domain. He wasn't on the sidewalk. He wasn't out and about in the Plaza. 

What would he have said if he were asked, "Were you outside with the others at the time?" I don't know, and neither does anyone else. But, the point is that the question was framed by the reporter, not by Oswald. 

My contention has always been that Oswald left the doorway very soon after the Altgens photo was taken- about immediately. That's because if you do the Math, you realize that the only way Oswald could beat Marrion Baker to the lunch room without being the least bit winded- which required that he had to walk at an easy pace and not run-was to leave right away. Did he leave before the fatal head shot occurred? It's possible. And even if he didn't, he may have left before there was keen awareness of what had happened by the people in the doorway. 

Therefore, Oswald may have had the perception that JFK got killed AFTER he left the doorway, which would mean that he was in the building at the time as far as he knew. Remember that at the time of the Altgens photo, none of the spectators were reacting with any awareness of what was going on. And you can see the faces of Lady Bird Johnson and Senator Ralph Yarborough who were both smiling. 

Those look like smiles to me. 

If Oswald left immediately after that, then he, like them, may not have known that Kennedy was under attack. 

Note that Baker and Truly didn't say anything to him about it, but Mrs. Reid did. Was that when Oswald first found out that Kennedy had been shot? It's very possible. 

In any case, to spin that dialogue into a denial on Oswald's part of being in the doorway, is most disingenuous. And, it's trumped by the statement he made to police that he was "out with Bill Shelley in front." And the whole issue is trumped by the fact that we can compare the photographs and see that the Doorway Man was him, with his build, his face, his stance, and, most important, his clothes. Who could be wearing Oswald's clothes but Oswald? The loose-fitting outer shirt- that was not only unbuttoned but sprawled open- over the notched t-shirt was Oswald's garb. Is there any chance that Lovelady was also dressed that way? No, absolutely not. So, that settles it, and no word-parsing can change it.  This is just a desperate attempt to salvage something that has already crashed and burned. It was Oswald in the doorway; the proof is in the photographs; and it doesn't matter what anybody said- including Oswald.