America: the land of truth and justice. If this is not already one of our mottos in the United States, it ought to be.

 One event that comes up with the issue of truth and justice is the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Was it a conspiracy, or the work of one man that felled the American president? The government claimed the latter. But, is that the whole truth?

Last weekend, I was watching the History Channel when a show came on called “The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After.” In the show write-up, the History Channel stated that they were, “using never-before-seen transcripts only recently made public.”

I will go on the record right here and now and tell you that I believe there was a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy, though I will not say the same of his brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, in 1968.

I believe that it was the Mafia that did this and that Lee Harvey Oswald was the scapegoat. I believe that a part of the government, knowing it had ties with the Mafia, covered it up behind some convenient “truths” to hide an embarrassing episode within the government. I believe that some people in the government made themselves more corrupt in trying to cover-up this event.

I would like to note that I have read multiple sources, from books to websites (including a biography of Robert Kennedy, documentaries and excerpts of the Warren Commission) concerning this matter, from which I have reached my conclusions.

How was the Mafia tied in with this? There are rumors that President Kennedy’s father had some ties related to a Chicago-based Mafia that later, among others, included Sam “Momo” Giancana, a Robert Kennedy rival.

During Kennedy’s years in office, his brother, Robert, was the attorney general. Robert Kennedy used the Justice Department as a platform to attack organized crime.

Robert Kennedy had an up-and-down relationship with the FBI, headed by J. Edgar Hoover. He also had a fondness for back channel operations, which he shared with his brother in the White House.

One of JFK’s main operations in the early 1960s was how to oust Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who had recently taken over Cuba. Many back channels were used by the CIA in this, including a scheme that involved under-the-table methods of assassination using Mafia members as the instigators (which Robert Kennedy may have known about).

Therefore, some members of the Mafia were working for the government. At the same time, Robert Kennedy was trying to prosecute them. After the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy administration toned down their attacks on Castro. This must have felt like a double-cross to the Mafia and they decided to retaliate before they ended up in jail. Thus, the motive for the assassination was set for the attempt for Nov. 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

Do I truly know what happened on that fateful November day? No, but I have my hunches.

The “lone assassin” theory of the event has Oswald shooting three times and striking Kennedy twice, Texas Governor John Connally once, and missing once, meaning that one bullet had to strike two men who were seated at two different angles. The bullet thought to be this bullet was found in pristine condition. Thus, the magic bullet theory.

However, was it so? Was the Warren Commission (the government report that claimed the lone assassin theory) accurate? According to the History Channel show, people situated on the grassy knoll to the front-right of the Presidential motorcade state that they heard a shot come from behind them, not front where the Texas School Depository was located, where Oswald was.

What I believed happened was that Oswald took a shot from behind the motorcade and missed. A man situated at the bridge, to the front, shot and hit Connally or Kennedy. Perhaps Oswald shot again and hit the motorcade. However, the fateful shot that penetrated President Kennedy’s head came from the grassy knoll, to the front-right. It’s feasible that a triangle of shooters with multiple shots with multiple angles were used to cut down on the risk of missing. Direct and flank (deflection) shots.

Later at the courthouse, after his capture, Oswald is heard crying out “I’m just a patsy!”

Could it be that he speaks the truth? Was he the scapegoat? No professional lone assassin would leave his finger-printed rifle in clear view and walk around the streets following his act. Isn’t it interesting that Oswald was apprehended so quickly? That Jack Ruby killed him days later while Oswald was still under police supervision?

This theory is neither as complicated as Oliver Stone’s movie “JFK” or as simple as the lone assassin.

This article is not meant to be a bashing of the American government. Rather, it is meant to try and define the path that we should take to follow what should be an American ideal – the truth.

Let all of the documents be released. Let the American public know the truth behind this matter for once and for all time.

Matt Kushi is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].