The Lunchroom Encounter

[Jerry Freeman]

What gets me about the Oswald did it people...when it suits their purpose Oswald told the truth----

Oswald admitted to Fritz that he was stopped by a Police Officer in the Lunchroom.
                                                                John Mytton

Mr. BALL. At that time didn't you know that one of your officers, Baker, had seen Oswald on the second floor?
Mr. FRITZ. They told me about that down at the bookstore; I believe Mr. Truly or someone told me about it, told me they had met him--I think he told me, person who told me about, I believe told me that they met him on the stairway, but our investigation shows that he actually saw him in a lunchroom, a little lunchroom where they were eating, and he held his gun on this man and Mr. Truly told him that he worked there, and the officer let him go. [did Fritz ever stumble on that stuff]
Mr. BALL. Did you question Oswald about that?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir; I asked him about that and he knew that the officer stopped him all right.
Mr. BALL. Did you ask him what he was doing in the lunchroom?
Mr. FRITZ. He said he was having his lunch. He had a cheese sandwich and a Coca-Cola.
Mr. BALL. Did he tell you he was up there to get a Coca-Cola?
Mr. FRITZ. He said he had a Coca-Cola.

https://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/index.php/topic,2253.msg64913.html#msg64913
So, Will Fritz actually only testified to what he said Oswald told him.

The testimony from a variety of sources all corroborate the 2nd floor lunchroom encounter, as they say in the classics "All roads lead to Rome".
And as for Baker being confused about the floor he was on is perfectly understandable because he first walks up steps to get into the Depository and then enters a closed stairwell which has a set of stairs leading to a platform and then he leaves the platform and walks up another set of stairs to the next floor.
JohnM

Testimony from a variety of sources [Oswald]   All roads lead to Rome  The only one that was confused was Marrion Baker    Which was perfectly understandable      
 

[Jerry Freeman]

Bear in mind that Will Fritz' notes weren't contrived until probably after Oswald was dead.

[Dan O'meara]

For the sources on the confrontation in the vestibule go to https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/anatomy-of-the-second-floor-lunchroom-encounter-excerpts
A good example is this:

In the Washington Post of November 23, Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry is quoted:

“As an officer rushed into the building Oswald rushed out. The policeman permitted him to pass after the building manager told the policeman that Oswald was an employee.”

[Michael T. Griffith]

I have written two articles on the Baker-Oswald encounter:

The Baker-Oswald Encounter: Proof that Oswald Did Not Shoot JFK?
https://miketgriffith.com/files/bakerlho.htm

Where Was Oswald During the Shooting?
https://miketgriffith.com/files/wherewasoswald.htm

There is no way Oswald could have gone from the sixth floor to the second floor (1) in time to be seen by Baker, (2) without being seen by Truly, and (3) without being seen or heard by the witnesses who were on or near the stairs.

[Jerry Freeman]

Review the testimony of postal inspector Harry Holmes....

Mr. BELIN. Now, Mr. Holmes, I wonder if you could try and think if there is anything else that you remember Oswald saying about where he was during the period prior or shortly prior to, and then at the time of the assassination?
Mr. HOLMES. Nothing more than I have already said. If you want me to repeat that?
Mr. BELIN. Go ahead and repeat it.
Mr. HOLMES. See if I say it the same way?
Mr. BELIN. Yes.
Mr. HOLMES. He said when lunchtime came he was working in one of the upper floors with a Negro.
The Negro said, "Come on and let's eat lunch together."
Apparently both of them having a sack lunch. And he said, "You go ahead, send the elevator back up to me and I will come down just as soon as I am finished."
And he didn't say what he was doing. There was a commotion outside, which he later rushed downstairs to go out to see what was going on. He didn't say whether he took the stairs down. He didn't say whether he took the elevator down.
But he went downstairs, and as he went out the front, it seems as though he did have a coke with him, or he stopped at the coke machine, or somebody else was trying to get a coke, but there was a coke involved.
He mentioned something about a coke. But a police officer asked him who he was, and just as he started to identify himself, his superintendent came up and said, "He is one of our men." And the policeman said, "Well, you step aside for a little bit."
Then another man rushed in past him as he started out the door, in this vestibule part of it, and flashed some kind of credential and he said, "Where is your telephone, where is your telephone, and said I am so and so, where is your telephone."
And he said, "I didn't look at the credential. I don't know who he said he was, and I just pointed to the phone and said, 'there it is,' and went on out the door."

[Dan O'meara]

My bad on the use of the word 'vestibule' when I meant the lobby at the front entrance (rookie mistake) but there does seem to be quite a few references to an encounter as Oswald was on his way out of the front entrance which I can't discount at the moment until I've got a better grasp of things. I'm not familiar with the Prayer Man stuff but if it means identifying the shadowy figure in the corner as Oswald I would need to see something really convincing to get me there. As I said somewhere else, to me it looks like that person is lighting a cigarette (or holding some kind of light source up to their face which I'm interpreting as a match). The problem I'm having at the moment is that there are so many contradictory pieces of testimony/statements/reports etc. that it seems possible to support almost any scenario.
The big problem I'm having at the moment is that if Oswald really is a patsy who is being set up it doesn't seem like anyone is monitoring him or controlling his movements. It's like he's free to go anywhere he wants which means he could be outside be photographed or talking with a group of people at the time of the assassination. Not a great plan. Also, if it is this massive operation it all seems to hinge on whether Bonnie Ray Williams finishes his chicken lunch in time.