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

Watch this short video of Officer Nick McDonald describing what happened when he went to arrest Oswald because there are some things that don't make sense to me. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UHUWINs2dE

First, McDonald said that Oswald had his pistol tucked in his belt. HIS BELT. Not his pants but his belt. And then McDonald must have thought about the fact that if it were only tucked in his belt that it would be exposed, so he added that he had his shirt out. 

I find that odd. I would think that Oswald would have tucked it in his pants- if he was going to tuck it at all. Then, McDonald said that he walked up to Oswald and told him to stand up. 

Well, if the cop was approaching Oswald, and Oswald had any mind to shoot him, wouldn't Oswald have had the gun out? 

So, McDonald orders Oswald to stand, and he does. Then, McDonald says that Oswald raised his hands, both of them: his right hand to chest level, and his left higher- to eye level.

If Oswald had a mind to shoot him, wouldn't he have gone for his gun by this time? If you imagine the picture above with the man on the right having a pistol tucked in his belt and his shirt out over it and his hand raised just as you see, how would he expect to reach the gun in any kind of timely manner? 

Note that McDonald said that Oswald had the gun tucked on his RIGHT side. That would certainly suggest that Oswald was right-handed. Wouldn't you automatically place the gun on the side of your dominant hand? Anyone would. Everyone would. There are no exceptions to that. 

Then, McDonald said that he reached for Oswald's pistol. He didn't say that, but he demonstrated it, saying that he was reaching "this way." But, he MUST have known about the pistol and been reaching for it because normally, you would expect him to perhaps reach for Oswald's wrist to immobilize him.  But, according to McDonald, Oswald's hand was in the air at chest level. So, wouldn't McDonald be reaching there? The only thing he could have been reaching for below was the pistol. But, at that point, how did McDonald know about the pistol? -because he said that Oswald's shirt was out. But, we'll assume that he got a peak at Oswald's pistol. We have to assume that because there is nothing else that would have prompted him to go to that area. 

But, according to McDonald, Oswald beat him to the pistol, that as McDonald was reaching for the pistol, Oswald lowered his right hand from chest level, got past his shirt to the pistol, and took the pistol out, and was able to point it at McDonald and engage the trigger. But, McDonald got his hand over the pistol. 

Then, according to McDonald, Oswald threw a punch with his left hand- the one that was at eye level- at McDonald's nose. And, he and the reporter must have rehearsed it because if you watch it closely, you'll see that the reporter initiates the punch before McDonald tells him to. Then, McDonald responds by hitting Oswald in the left eye with his right hand, and they both go crashing down into the seat. Then, reportedly, as Oswald was squeezing the trigger to shoot McDonald, as he pulled the hammer back, McDonald got the web of his hand, the fleshy part between the thumb and the index finger, in-between the hammer and the primer, and that's what prevented the gun from going off and saved McDonald's life.   

But, how credible is that to you? McDonald could not have been looking there. He was fighting and wrestling with Oswald, and his sight was nowhere near that spot. So, did he do it by feel? Was he consciously trying to do it? Or was it a lucky accident?

But, this differs from McDonald's original account. This is what he told WFAA on the day of the assassination:

 “As it [the revolver] was coming out, he [Oswald] snapped the trigger on the pistol, and it misfired luckily”. 



That was also what he put in his police report. But, above with the reporter, he denied any misfiring and said it was his hand-wedging that kept the gun from going off. 

In his Warren Commission testimony, McDonald said nothing about the hand-wedging:

Yes, sir. Now, as we fell into the seats, I called out, "I have got him," and Officer T. A. Hutson, he came to the row behind us and grabbed Oswald around the neck. And then Officer C. T. Walker came into the row that we were in and grabbed his left arm. And Officer Ray Hawkins came to the row in front of us and grabbed him from the front. By the time all three of these officers had got there, I had gotten my right hand on the butt of the pistol and jerked it free. 


Note that at various times, McDonald changed the script of what Oswald said. Here, he said Oswald said "Well, it's all over now" but at other times he added "This is it" but no other policeman nor any witness confirmed that Oswald said those things. One policeman named Hawkins said that it was McDonald who said "This is it"- not Oswald. 

I'll have more to say about this, but watch the video with a critical eye and mind. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UHUWINs2dE