James Hosty has some interesting things to say about the attempted assassination of General Walker. In his book “Assignment Oswald” beginning on page 146 here is a snip:
The police had had no clue on a suspect in the Walker case. During their investigation, the Dallas police knew I had been investi-gating Walker for inciting a riot in Oxford in protests over the desegregation of the University of Mississippi. The police asked me if I had any ideas on possible suspects. I had an informant who was a member of Walker’s Minutemen who told me that the Minutemen were upset with Walker for going to Oxford in the first place. Through Walker’s blunders there, he had caused himself and one of his aides to be arrested. When arrested, the aide had in his possession confidential documents revealing the strength of the Minutemen. My informant told me that because of all this, there was now talk among the Minutemen of replacing Walker as their leader. After I relayed all this information to the police, the police concentrated on Walker’s own followers as suspects.
Following Marina’s revelation, the FBI lab compared the bullet recovered from General Walker’s wall to Oswald’s rifle. Even though the bullet had been partly mutilated when it was removed from the wall, and even though rifles typically change ever so slightly over time, the lab was able to find five identifying matches between Oswald’s rifle and the bullet. Because the FBI lab required seven matches before they could label it a conclusive match, it was only labeled “tentative.” The Warren Commission had a second forensic lab, that of the New York State Police, check the bullet. While the FBI tended to be overly conservative in such matters, the New York State Police experts required only five matches for a positive and conclusive identification.
Finally, one of Oswald’s acquaintances, George DeMorenschild, reported to us that a short time before the Walker shooting, he and Oswald had been discussing politics when Walker’s name came up. DeMorenschild mentioned that Walker, who was fervently anti-Castro, was just another Hitler. He told Oswald that Walker was a menace to society and that maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea if someone took a shot at him. DeMorenschild told us he had said this in the heat of passion — he hadn’t been serious about that comment. But he might have inadvertently put the idea in Oswald’s head.
The evidence was almost certainly enough to convict Oswald of taking a potshot at Walker. Oswald also would have had the motive, for Walker had called for the overthrow of Oswald’s hero, Fidel Castro. The most remarkable thing was Oswald’s modus operandi. In shooting at Walker, Oswald had chosen a highly visible political target, had left money behind with Marina before his crime, had used the same high-powered rifle with scope, had shot from a sniper’s position, had stashed the rifle near his sniper’s nest, had fled on foot, then caught a public bus. And he had acted alone. This was, of course, star-tlingly similar to the behavior of Kennedy’s presumed assassin.
