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

Nick McDonald's Warren Commission testimony proves that years later, he lied.

To the Warren Commission, he never said a word about mashing his hand into the trigger space. He never claimed that he, himself, prevented the gun from firing by mechanically jamming his hand into that space. In fact, he said that he "felt something that grazed across his hand" namely, the rotating cylinder.  He said he "felt the movement of the cylinder across his left palm." Well, how could the cylinder rotate if he had the web of his hand jammed into the firing space? And why didn't he mention that he had the web of his hand jammed into the firing space? Plus, he said he heard a snap, implying that the trigger was pulled and the shot activated. But, how could there be a snap if his hand was in the way? Wouldn't the hand prevent the snap? 


Mr. McDONALD - Well, whenever I hit him, we both fell into the seats. While we were struggling around there, with this hand on the gun-- 
Mr. BALL - Your left hand? 
Mr. McDONALD - Yes, sir. Somehow I managed to get this hand in the action also. 
Mr. BALL - Your right hand? 
Mr. McDONALD - 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. 
Mr. BALL - Had you felt any movement of the hammer? 
Mr. McDONALD - Yes, sir. When this hand--we went down into the seats. 
Mr. BALL - When your left hand went into the seats, what happened? 
Mr. McDONALD - It felt like something had grazed across my hand. I felt movement there. And that was the only movement I felt. And I heard a snap. I didn't know what it was at the time. 
Mr. BALL - Was the pistol out of his waist at that time? 
Mr. McDONALD - Yes, sir. 
Mr. BALL - Do you know any way it was pointed? 
Mr. McDONALD - Well, I believe the muzzle was toward me, because the sensation came across this way. To make a movement like that, it would have to be the cylinder or the hammer. 
Mr. BALL - Across your left palm? 
Mr. McDONALD - Yes, sir. And my hand was directly over the pistol in this manner. More or less the butt. But not on the butt. 
Mr. BALL - What happened when you jerked the pistol free? 
Mr. McDONALD - When I jerked it free, I was down in the seats with him, with my head, some reason or other, I don't know why, and when I brought the pistol out, it grazed me across the cheek here, and I put it all the way out to the aisle, holding it by the butt. I gave the pistol to Detective Bob Carroll at that point. 

He said nothing about jamming his hand into the firing space. He described the location of his hand as follows: "my hand was directly over the pistol IN THIS MANNER. More or less the butt. But not on the butt." That does not describe jamming his hand into the firing space. And, in this manner? Doesn't that suggest that he was demonstrating something? Well, he obviously was not demonstrating that he was jamming his hand into the firing space because if so he definitely would have said so. 


It's clear that for Nick McDonald, the hand-wedging claim was a new claim that he did not begin to make until long after the assassination and perhaps years later. He said it 1967 for the CBS Special, but did he ever say it before that? I do not know, but he definitely did not make it at the time of the assassination, nor in his police report, nor in his Warren Commission testimony.