Umbrella Man: Suspicious

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Even if that was the guy's aim with the umbrella on Dealey Plaza, I can't see any credible relevance to the assassination.

I think he was just doing, as he said, some heckling of JFK.

This is from his testimony:

Mr. GENZMAN. Why were you carrying an umbrella that day?
Mr. WITT. Actually, I was going to use this umbrella to heckle the President's motorcade.
Mr. GENZMAN, How had you gotten this idea?
Mr. WITT. In a coffee break conversation someone had mentioned that the umbrella was a sore spot with the Kennedy family. Being a conservative-type fellow, I sort of placed him in the liberal camp and I was just going to kind of do a little heckling.
Mr. GENZMAN. Are you saying you were going to use the umbrella as a symbol for the purpose of heckling?
Mr. WITT. I think that would cover it.

The Kennedys - specifically Joe Sr. - were often accused of supporting the appeasement policies of Chamberlain. LBJ took a shot at them during his campaign. I think this was all that he was doing.

But too many conspiracists - not all - can't see any innocent acts in this. Everything for them has sinister purposes. It's a mindset, a worldview, a view of "the government" and "the CIA" and "the deep state" as being behind all sorts of things. Yes, sometimes that is true; but sometimes it's not.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

So a Democrat and Republican walk into a room.

Democrat to Republican: "You disgust me, you're a racist neo-Nazi who wants to create a fascist country. I can barely be in a room with you."

Republican to Democrat: "Yeah, well you hate America, you've always hated the country and are little more than godless communists. All you want is power over people and to destroy everything good about this country. I want out of here!"

Democrat: "Well, okay. How about joining up with me and covering up the murder of JFK? Forever. Not just now; but future generations? Let's do it."

Republican: "Okay, we hate the crooked bastard LBJ but we'll cover up for him. And we promise that all future generations of Republicans will cover up too. It's a deal."

So the Democrat and Republican shook hands, joined arms and lived together happily ever after.

Yes they did.

[Dan O'meara]

Here's one of the many ridiculous CT notions that will not die - Chamberlain was famous for his umbrella!
In the '30's a staggering amount of male, middle/upper class professionals carried an umbrella. The uniform of the "city gent" was a bowler hat and umbrella. Umbrellas were everywhere, it's like saying Chamberlain was famous for wearing trousers.

Well, I think yes and no. The umbrella became a political symbol of Chamberlain's appeasement. As I noted above, there was a very influential book written in 1940 - "Guilty Men" - that denounced 15 British noted figures for their support of the failed policy of appeasement of Hitler. Chamberlain was specifically called "Umbrella Man" in a chapter and elsewhere.

Here's an excerpt from the piece linked below: "Neville Chamberlain’s umbrella was ubiquitous during the Munich Crisis and in its aftermath, as material object, as commodity, and as political emblem that came to represent the temperament and character of the “Man of Peace” who had brought relief to the world by striking a “gentleman’s peace” with Hitler on 30 September, 1938. This culminated in the damning portrayal of the Prime Minister as the “Umbrella Man” in ‘Cato’s’ Guilty Men (1940).

Full piece here:  https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/101366/3/Chamberlain%27sUmbrellaArticle2ndRevisions.pdf

LBJ used the very phrase - "umbrella man" - in his campaign against JFK. He was referring to Joe Kennedy Sr. and his support of that policy.

I don't know how John Simkins, a British historian, couldn't know the history of the term. As I said above, the book "Guilty Men" was reportedly very influential during the period in question.

Hi Steve, I was unaware of the article you posted and, I have to say, it is most convincing. I can buy that the umbrella could be seen as a symbol of appeasement from an American angle. Simkin is correct from a British point of view, this connection with the umbrella had never really been made in Britain because nearly everyone has an umbrella. Chamberlain was far more famous for waving his piece of paper but, ultimately, we are talking about an American perspective on this.

[Paul J Cummings]

Spotters for what?  Anyone in Dealey Plaza could see and hear the motorcade as it approached but the fantasy conspirators need someone conspicuous to stand out in the open and bring attention to himself?  Unreal. Again, I hope no one actually takes this seriously and are just passing the time with a game of make up a good story because this is Bigfoot and ghost hunter territory.

This was a professional hit with teams. When Joe Smith ran up the grassy knoll he encountered a Secret Service agent who wasn't assigned behind the picket fence. These teams had roles and assignments and a spotter to make this went smoothly. It's amateur hour the way you think the Assassination went down.

[Sean Kneringer]

I posted this press photo last spring. Political protesters were using the umbrella to mock JFK as early as 1961. In fact, Witt referenced this Phoenix protest in his testimony. 

[Chris Davidson]

Until very recently, I had always ignored the issue of Umbrella Man. I've never written a word about him in any of my articles or books. However, now that I've done some research on the matter, I find his actions suspicious and do not believe Louie Witt's story.

Witt's story that the umbrella was intended to protest the appeasement of Hitler by Neville Chamberlain and secondarily by JFK's father is absurd on its face. For starters, the umbrella was never considered to be a symbol of Chamberlain.

What's more, Witt's descriptions of his actions do not match the actions that we see Umbrella Man doing in the Zapruder film. Witt claimed he was just fiddling with the umbrella while trying to open it, but that is not at all what we see in the Z film. In the Z film, Umbrella Man holds his umbrella in the air and pumps it.

Another odd figure on the grassy knoll was the dark complected man (DCM). As the limo passes and while Umbrella Man is pumping his umbrella, DCM thrusts his fist up into the air.

Strangely, Umbrella Man and DCM, presumably strangers, instead of reacting with apparent horror or shock, sit down together on the curb and appear to calmly survey the scene.

In addition, enlargements of footage/photos that show DCM clearly seem to show something that looks like a radio or walkie-talkie protruding from his back pocket.

[Jim Hawthorn]

I think he was just doing, as he said, some heckling of JFK.

This is from his testimony:

Mr. GENZMAN. Why were you carrying an umbrella that day?
Mr. WITT. Actually, I was going to use this umbrella to heckle the President's motorcade.
Mr. GENZMAN, How had you gotten this idea?
Mr. WITT. In a coffee break conversation someone had mentioned that the umbrella was a sore spot with the Kennedy family. Being a conservative-type fellow, I sort of placed him in the liberal camp and I was just going to kind of do a little heckling.
Mr. GENZMAN. Are you saying you were going to use the umbrella as a symbol for the purpose of heckling?
Mr. WITT. I think that would cover it.

The Kennedys - specifically Joe Sr. - were often accused of supporting the appeasement policies of Chamberlain. LBJ took a shot at them during his campaign. I think this was all that he was doing.

But too many conspiracists - not all - can't see any innocent acts in this. Everything for them has sinister purposes. It's a mindset, a worldview, a view of "the government" and "the CIA" and "the deep state" as being behind all sorts of things. Yes, sometimes that is true; but sometimes it's not.

Thanks.

[Michael T. Griffith]

I think that you're on the right track, Michael....  I've long believed that the umbrella was a reminder to JFK that he left the brigade with no aircover when he pulled the "Umbrella of air cover" for the Cubans who were trying to gain a foothold at Bay Of Pigs. Those Cuban's who were under the control of the CIA blamed JFK for their failure and capture by Castro's forces. It wasn't JFK's fault at all....The CIA  was to blame for the failure...but they wouldn't accept the responsibility, and placed the blame on JFK.   John Kennedy being the kind of man he was accepted the blame....( He felt that If it happened on his watch, he was responsible )  The  red rings on the Windows of the TSBD  were also there to remind  JFK that he had betrayed the CIA trained Cuban exiles who were ashore at red beach , and needed the aircover that the CIA had promised them that JFK would provide.

I don't think it would have occurred to JFK in a million years that the pumping umbrella represented his refusal to provide air cover for the Bay of Pigs invasion force.

It is debatable that JFK refused to provide air cover. The story is much more complex than most history books paint it as being. It should be noted that the initial reports on the first air strike said it had been mostly successful, that it had destroyed almost all of Castro's air force--those reports were false. But, perhaps with these reports in mind, and concerned about plausible deniability and the uproar that the first raid had caused, President Kennedy probably felt it was both safe and prudent to cancel the second air attack. Nevertheless, when subsequent events proved that the first raid had not destroyed enough of Castro's air power, Kennedy reauthorized a second air strike. It was scheduled for Sunday night, April 17. Unfortunately, there was a thick cloud cover that night, which made it impossible to carry out the raid. Moreover, after it became apparent that too many of Castro's planes had survived, JFK authorized the B-26s to bomb at will, and on the afternoon of the invasion one bombing raid destroyed an entire battalion of Castro's forces.