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

OK, let's get back to Officer RC Nelson, Tippit's partner.

Alright, so he hasn't aged as gracefully as I have, but we won't belabor it.

But, here is something we will belabor: what he said at the time of the 50th. And that is what Jack Ruby said at the commencement of the Charge in the Garage. 

‘Hey guys it’s Jack. It’s me.’ 

Do you think this guy said that?

We certainly don't hear it in any of the films. Moreover, we have no visual indication that there was any verbal communication between the shooter and his captors. It looks as though the shooter, after shooting Oswald, dove into the swarm of police; they penguinized him, meaning, made like this:

Penguins do it to keep each other warm; they did it to cover up Bookhout and keep him out of sight.  

Then, according to Nelson, he, personally, "manhandled" Ruby into the building, and then cuffed him when they got inside. That's what he said. He didn't even mention the penguins. It's like he did it alone.

But, did he do it at all?  Is there any visual evidence that he was one of the penguins? In other words: do we see him? I see only one uniformed policeman engaged with the penguins. So, was this Nelson?

Notice that that guy is wearing a white hat, and Nelson, above and below, is wearing a black hat.

I presume that the hat color was not a matter of daily fashion preference, but rather your rank or assignment. Notice that his partner JD Tippit also wore a black hat.

So, apparently, patrol officers wore black hats. And, if he wore a black hat, he definitely wasn't that other guy who was involved in the melee, the only uniformed cop to be involved. That other guy looks like the one who did the interview afterwards. 

That guy can't be Nelson because Nelson had a very wide nose, and this guy doesn't. Furthermore, this guy was asked if Ruby said anything, and he said that he couldn't make out anything Ruby said- if he said anything. However, in contrast, Nelson said that he heard Ruby say, "Hey guys, it's Jack. It's me." Now, if he remembered that 50 years later, then surely he'd have remembered it 50 seconds later. Therefore, there is no basis to claim that this guy was Nelson.

And therefore, at this juncture, I have no basis to accept RC Nelson's claim of being the one to "manhandle" the shooter into the building. I don't see it. That is, I don't see him. And, I hope I don't have to spell out for you that when it comes to choosing between what people say and what my eyes see, I go with my eyes. I trust my eyes; I don't trust people. especially not JFK people. 

Yet, bear something in mind that is important: What Nelson said Ruby said, Ruby also said he said. What does that suggest? It suggests that he said it. And, that suggests that there was another enactment of this whole thing which involved the real Ruby. Obviously, he didn't shoot Oswald, since Oswald was alive for the historic one. But, maybe at that one, Nelson is the one who "manhandled" Ruby into the building and then cuffed him.  Exactly where and when that happened, I don't know. But somewhere, the real Ruby got pounced upon.