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Y'all forgot Sara Jane Moore and Squeaky Fromme and Ford.
Or the nutjob who unloaded a machine gun into the White House while Bill Clinton was there.
And while they do not fit the loner profile, two PR nationalist took shots at Truman and succeeded in killing a Secret Service agent.
Trying to off the President is indeed all too commonplace. When Obama was elected, the joy in my office was tempered by a mild panic that someone was inevitably going to take a shot at him. Well yes, it is sadly inevitable that someone will try, although whether they succeed or not is another question.
Using a .22 for an assasination,unless the guy is right behind you,smells of amatuer hour.My closest friend took three .22's in a case of mistaken identity in a Jackson Heights restaraunt at point blank range and was back on the job two months later(the real kicker was it was on his birthday!)Harry "the Hunchback" Ricobene took ten .22 slugs in a phonebooth and still managed to chase his attackers down the street.If the mob wanted RFK out of the way(I'm sure they wouldn't have shed a tear!),a sniper probably would have been used...hmmm,sounds FAMILIAR!!!
do not underestimate the lethality of a .22 caliber round. granted you need proper shot placement, but a .22 can kill you just as dead, just as quickly as a .45acp round. in fact reagan could very easily have died from his wounds, as a .22 round was mere millimeters from penetrating his aorta, and if it had, he would have bleed out on the way to the hospital.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moth
Trying to off the President is indeed all too commonplace. When Obama was elected, the joy in my office was tempered by a mild panic that someone was inevitably going to take a shot at him. Well yes, it is sadly inevitable that someone will try, although whether they succeed or not is another question.
let us hope they do not succeed in assassinating president obama. while i dont like his politics, and i would love to see him voted out of office, i also dont want to deal with president biden. that would have been as bad as president gore.
Using a .22 for an assasination,unless the guy is right behind you,smells of amatuer hour.My closest friend took three .22's in a case of mistaken identity in a Jackson Heights restaraunt at point blank range and was back on the job two months later(the real kicker was it was on his birthday!)Harry "the Hunchback" Ricobene took ten .22 slugs in a phonebooth and still managed to chase his attackers down the street.If the mob wanted RFK out of the way(I'm sure they wouldn't have shed a tear!),a sniper probably would have been used...hmmm,sounds FAMILIAR!!!
For close in head shots the professional often pick a .22 cal weapon. The .22 real danger lies in the fact that the bullets tend to fragment making removal very dangerous and often impossible. Its not a long range choice tho.Often a .22 to the head is a sign of a profeesional job in public type places. i hardly think theat it professional inthsi case really or that there is much real professional doubt as t what happen and by who. There will always be the conspracy and other theories out there in space tho.
Also, the report mentions the popping sound of gunfire. But there's nothing about any voices. If there was a scuffle between agents and an assassin, what's the likelihood that nobody would say anything at all? "He's got a gun!" "I got him!" "Bobby's hit." Nothing. Like the whole thing played out in silence, except for the sound of gunfire.
The assassination was broadcast on live radio. Andrew West of KRKD is heard asking Senator Kennedy how he plans to counter the Humphrey delgate count at the convention. Kennedy replies "We're just going to start to struggle for it." At that point Kennedy stopped to shake hands with kitchen employees and the next thing that you hear is West's voice, now charged with excitement..
Quote:
<sound of gunshot, followed by chaos>
(Andrew West, KRKD, Los Angeles) Senator Kennedy has been sh… Senator Kennedy has been shot, is that possible? Oh my God. Senator Kennedy has been shot. Rafer Johnson has a hold of the man who apparently has fired the shot.
<pandemonium>
Get the gun! Get the gun! Get the gun! Stay away from the gun!
(Other voice) Get the gun!
(West) His hand is frozen! Take a hold of his thumb, and break it if you have to, get his gun! All right?
(other voice) Everybody please get back, please get back! We need…
(West) That’s it Rafer! Get it! Get the gun, Rafer!
(other voice, screaming) Get the gun!
(West) Hold him, hold him!
(other voice) Hold that bastard!
(West) We don’t want another Oswald!
What is segregation (http://kd4dcy.net/public-html/clay.html - broken link)
Three years after the RFK murder, a Detroit disk jockey named Tom Clay produced a new version of "What The World Needs Now" which featured pauses between verses for the presentation of audio tape related to the assassinations of President Kennedy, Dr, King and Bobby. The West broadcast was included as part of the record and it was on the top 40 charts for a few months, so I heard that scenario played out many times and it never ceased to be chilling. It concludes with Ted Kennedy delivering the eulogy at RFK's funeral, his voice cracking with emotion.
do not underestimate the lethality of a .22 caliber round. granted you need proper shot placement, but a .22 can kill you just as dead, just as quickly as a .45acp round. in fact reagan could very easily have died from his wounds, as a .22 round was mere millimeters from penetrating his aorta, and if it had, he would have bleed out on the way to the hospital.
let us hope they do not succeed in assassinating president obama. while i dont like his politics, and i would love to see him voted out of office, i also dont want to deal with president biden. that would have been as bad as president gore.
I do not underestimate the lethality of small caliber weaponry.The point I was trying to make,why would Sirhan have thought he could get that close to use such a small weapon.As unprofessional as they were,RFK DID have a security team that was supposed to screen contact with the public.If it were a professional job,the guy would want a distant shot,or a subtefuge as a means of egress,he had neither,thus my point that this was a single loner/loser.As regarding my friend,not a birthday goes by that I don't remind him to wear his vest at ALL times,its a crazy freakin' world out there!!!!!
Probably because he was, as has been revealed over time, a raving lunatic and did not think at all. Why did Hinkley with his made up ammo think he could walk up to Reagan admidst his Secret Service detail and kill him?
Answer, he did not behave rationally. Neither did Sirhan.
The point I was trying to make, why would Sirhan have thought he could get that close to use such a small weapon. As unprofessional as they were, RFK DID have a security team that was supposed to screen contact with the public.
The Ambassador had 10 unarmed, plainclothes security officers on duty that night. In addition, the hotel had hired 6 armed, uniformed security guards from a private company to supplement their own staff. Senator Kennedy’s security “team” consisted of an ex-FBI agent named William Barry, the football player, Rosie Greer, and Olympic athlete Rafer Johnson. So at least on paper, security arrangements at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968 appeared to be more than sufficient. In reality, what had been put in place was wholly inadequate. No security officers were placed outside the building to control access, so people were fairly free to wander in and out of sensitive areas unchallenged. Credentials had been issued but weren’t checked consistently, and in many cases, individuals who didn’t have credentials were permitted entry anyway. The even bigger problem was that neither the Ambassador security staff, or the armed guards from Ace Guard Service were positioned in such a way to even remotely protect Senator Kennedy or specifically tasked to do so. This was due primarily to the express wishes of Kennedy himself.
From the start of his campaign, but especially at the Ambassador, Kennedy and his staff made it clear that they did not want uniformed security anywhere in his vicinity, especially armed ones. While many expressed concern for the Senator’s safety due to numerous death threats received during the course of the campaign, it was important to Kennedy that he not seem to be insulating himself from the crowds that turned out to support him at public appearances. Furthermore, Kennedy’s campaign was heavily geared toward appealing to minority voters. Since that segment of society didn’t view law enforcement as being overly friendly toward them, Kennedy took great pains to keep police officers at arm’s length during public events. Kennedy also had a bad habit of breaking away from his security people to wade into throngs of supporters to shake hands and sign autographs. There was even an incident in Los Angeles prior to his assassination where an LAPD officer had intervened when it seemed as if Kennedy was being overwhelmed by a crowd. The officer extracted Kennedy, but instead of receiving thanks, Kennedy and his staff were livid, telling the officer that they didn’t need his help and ordering him to get out of the way. By most accounts, this incident was responsible for the LAPD not being present to provide security for Kennedy on the night of the 5th, even though the LAPD had a special VIP unit that was set up for exactly these circumstances.
When Kennedy concluded his speech, the original plan was for him to exit out through the ballroom. In accordance with that, William Barry, Rosie Greer, Rafer Johnson, along with Ambassador security officers, began to clear a path directly in front of the stage. Unfortunately, one of Kennedy’s staff had changed the plan, having Kennedy instead exit out behind the stage into an interior hallway that lead to the pantry. This “shortcut” was taken so that Kennedy could move quickly to another ballroom for interviews with newspaper reporters. None of this was communicated to William Barry. The end result was that the one professionally trained bodyguard that Kennedy had, found himself separated from Kennedy and fighting his way through a crowd to catch up to him. So the only “security” accompanying Kennedy as he made his way into the crowded pantry area was the Ambassador’s assistant maitre d’, Karl Uecker, and one of the Ace guards, Thane Eugene Cesar. The only reason Cesar ended up with Kennedy was because Kennedy had walked right past where Cesar had been posted in the hallway. Like all the Ace guards, Cesar had been instructed to stay at their posts and not have direct contact with Kennedy. But seeing Uecker struggling to lead Kennedy through the crowd of about 70 people who jammed the small space, Cesar left his post and took a position slightly behind and to the right of Kennedy, grabbing Kennedy’s elbow to guide him. And as he had done so many times before, Kennedy ended up breaking free from both Cesar and Uecker so that he could shake hands with the surrounding well wishers. Just as Uecker and Cesar were about to get back in position to lead Kennedy the remaining few feet to the adjacent ballroom, Sirhan emerged and began firing his gun. William Barry was finally able to catch up to Kennedy, but far too late to protect him.
In the end, a poorly thought out and executed security plan, a simple but costly miscommunication, and the restrictions put in place by Senator Kennedy himself, all combined to make it ridiculously easy to take his life.
The Ambassador had 10 unarmed, plainclothes security officers on duty that night. In addition, the hotel had hired 6 armed, uniformed security guards from a private company to supplement their own staff. Senator Kennedy’s security “team” consisted of an ex-FBI agent named William Barry, the football player, Rosie Greer, and Olympic athlete Rafer Johnson. So at least on paper, security arrangements at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968 appeared to be more than sufficient. In reality, what had been put in place was wholly inadequate. No security officers were placed outside the building to control access, so people were fairly free to wander in and out of sensitive areas unchallenged. Credentials had been issued but weren’t checked consistently, and in many cases, individuals who didn’t have credentials were permitted entry anyway. The even bigger problem was that neither the Ambassador security staff, or the armed guards from Ace Guard Service were positioned in such a way to even remotely protect Senator Kennedy or specifically tasked to do so. This was due primarily to the express wishes of Kennedy himself.
From the start of his campaign, but especially at the Ambassador, Kennedy and his staff made it clear that they did not want uniformed security anywhere in his vicinity, especially armed ones. While many expressed concern for the Senator’s safety due to numerous death threats received during the course of the campaign, it was important to Kennedy that he not seem to be insulating himself from the crowds that turned out to support him at public appearances. Furthermore, Kennedy’s campaign was heavily geared toward appealing to minority voters. Since that segment of society didn’t view law enforcement as being overly friendly toward them, Kennedy took great pains to keep police officers at arm’s length during public events. Kennedy also had a bad habit of breaking away from his security people to wade into throngs of supporters to shake hands and sign autographs. There was even an incident in Los Angeles prior to his assassination where an LAPD officer had intervened when it seemed as if Kennedy was being overwhelmed by a crowd. The officer extracted Kennedy, but instead of receiving thanks, Kennedy and his staff were livid, telling the officer that they didn’t need his help and ordering him to get out of the way. By most accounts, this incident was responsible for the LAPD not being present to provide security for Kennedy on the night of the 5th, even though the LAPD had a special VIP unit that was set up for exactly these circumstances.
When Kennedy concluded his speech, the original plan was for him to exit out through the ballroom. In accordance with that, William Barry, Rosie Greer, Rafer Johnson, along with Ambassador security officers, began to clear a path directly in front of the stage. Unfortunately, one of Kennedy’s staff had changed the plan, having Kennedy instead exit out behind the stage into an interior hallway that lead to the pantry. This “shortcut” was taken so that Kennedy could move quickly to another ballroom for interviews with newspaper reporters. None of this was communicated to William Barry. The end result was that the one professionally trained bodyguard that Kennedy had, found himself separated from Kennedy and fighting his way through a crowd to catch up to him. So the only “security” accompanying Kennedy as he made his way into the crowded pantry area was the Ambassador’s assistant maitre d’, Karl Uecker, and one of the Ace guards, Thane Eugene Cesar. The only reason Cesar ended up with Kennedy was because Kennedy had walked right past where Cesar had been posted in the hallway. Like all the Ace guards, Cesar had been instructed to stay at their posts and not have direct contact with Kennedy. But seeing Uecker struggling to lead Kennedy through the crowd of about 70 people who jammed the small space, Cesar left his post and took a position slightly behind and to the right of Kennedy, grabbing Kennedy’s elbow to guide him. And as he had done so many times before, Kennedy ended up breaking free from both Cesar and Uecker so that he could shake hands with the surrounding well wishers. Just as Uecker and Cesar were about to get back in position to lead Kennedy the remaining few feet to the adjacent ballroom, Sirhan emerged and began firing his gun. William Barry was finally able to catch up to Kennedy, but far too late to protect him.
In the end, a poorly thought out and executed security plan, a simple but costly miscommunication, and the restrictions put in place by Senator Kennedy himself, all combined to make it ridiculously easy to take his life.
Excellent research,Sirhan,however, would not have known any of the security difficulties,with the possible exception of the LAPD incident,for it to have aided his attempt.
A number of sources close to RFK have noted his fatalism in regards to personal threats, almost as he expected to be shot or at least nothing could be done to prevent it. I imagine that influenced the security as well. One reason that he chose to enter the race so late, only after the primary in NH made it clear that the war had become critical as a political issue, was precisely his and his wife's concern he might be assasinated.
There have been many dark periods in US history, but one of the darkest was that period after his death, comming so soon after MLK's assasination, the urban riots, TET, and similar issues. 1968 was a watershed year in US history, and RFK's death was a central part of that.
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