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

Jim Leavelle has repeatedly credited his partner L.C. Graves with saving his life on November 24, 1963 by holding fast the barrel of "Ruby's" revolver so that it couldn't turn. 


Jim Leavelle: "On November 24, 963, former Dallas police detective Jim Leavelle says Officer LC Graves saved his life. "I am confident I would have gotten one bullet," Leavelle said, "maybe two."

"Graves squeezed the cylinder of the pistol so tightly that the gun jammed as Ruby kept trying to pull the trigger.

Leavelle says, “I told Graves, ‘You’re my hero. If it wasn’t for you, I would have been shot.’”

Now, the issue has been raised whether "Ruby" (it wasn't Ruby; it was James Bookhout; and there was no live round; the whole thing was a ruse) was trying to shoot Leavelle specifically as an individual or not. I would point out that the distinction is practically, if not completely, pointless and meaningless. Leavelle himself said that he knew Jack Ruby for 15 years. Well, that means that Jack Ruby knew him for 15 years. If he recognized Ruby, why shouldn't we assume that Ruby recognized him? Ruby recognized Sam Pierce in a police car, so why wouldn't he recognize Jim Leavelle standing right in front of him? And If he was pulling the trigger in Leavelle's direction- pointing the gun at him- he was certainly showing a willingness to shoot Leavelle. He knew him. He saw him. We have to assume those things. And, he had to know it was police officers he was facing. So, even if it was just an intent to kill "a" Dallas police officer and not Leavelle specifically, what difference does it make? It's all nonsense anyway. Jack Ruby LOVED the Dallas policemen. Loved! Loved! Loved! And that is no exaggeration. He would have died for them, but he certainly wouldn't have tried to kill any of them. And remember that the one telling the story of "Ruby" trying to shoot again is Jim Leavelle. We don't see it in the films, and we see the action from many different angles. There is no evidence for it; it's just a claim. We never see "Ruby" trying to do anything hostile to anybody after the shot. We don't see him kick, punch, spit, swipe, slap, shoot- NOTHING! So, it's Leavelle's story, and that's all it is. And Jim Leavelle has NEVER framed it as Ruby trying to put another bullet into Oswald, as some claim. Remember, it's just Leavelle's lips backing it up. There's nothing we can see. So, the idea that "Ruby" was trying to shoot further at Oswald, which Jim Leavelle has NEVER suggested or claimed in all the many, many times he has told his story, is certainly not the prerogative of anyone else to introduce.