Umbrella Man: Suspicious

[Jerry Freeman]

  By the way, how many Bircher supporters were there in Dallas at that time? 50? 100? 1000? Was Witt a Bircher? 

Probably not. He was also doubtfully Umbrella Man. Reasons have been mentioned.
The JBS?---Alive and well in Texas---
https://www.texasobserver.org/the-john-birch-society-sees-a-renaissance-in-north-texas/

[Richard Smith]

    No one ever said he was killed by a Republican.
But he was hated by many Dallas right wing radicals including Edwin Walker...so why would a lefty wing want to shoot JFK?
Fact...
 

Fact...

You answered your own question.  Oswald was a nut.  Nuts do crazy things.  Only Oswald knows his exact subjective motivation.  Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with the fact that some republicans in Dallas didn't like JFK. 

[Steve M. Galbraith]

You answered your own question.  Oswald was a nut.  Nuts do crazy things.  Only Oswald knows his exact subjective motivation.  Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with the fact that some republicans in Dallas didn't like JFK.

It's ironic that the Birchers saw the hand of Communists behind everything and the JFK conspiracy believers see the hand of "the CIA" or the "deep state" behind the entire assassination. In this case, Witt was part of this conspiracy. One side saw JFK as a traitor; the other sees everyone else including Ruth Paine as traitors. "Everyone else" being a figure of speech.

Oswald meanwhile was just some poor guy used in the plot.

As a side note: Bugliosi states (in "RH") that John Welch, the founder and president of the John Birch Society, denounced the assassination of JFK and expressed grief over the murder.

[Walt Cakebread]

It's ironic that the Birchers saw the hand of Communists behind everything and the JFK conspiracy believers see the hand of "the CIA" or the "deep state" behind the entire assassination. In this case, Witt was part of this conspiracy. One side saw JFK as a traitor; the other sees everyone else including Ruth Paine as traitors. "Everyone else" being a figure of speech.

Oswald meanwhile was just some poor guy used in the plot.

As a side note: Bugliosi states (in "RH") that John Welch, the founder and president of the John Birch Society, denounced the assassination of JFK and expressed grief over the murder.

the Birchers saw the hand of Communists behind everything

Hmmmm..... Was J. Edgar Hoover a Bircher?

[Gerry Down]

Hi Gerry,
I don't think there is one film showing the umbrella pump. But in Willis5 the umbrella is close to Umbrella Man's head and in Zapruder the umbrella is raised about 12-18". The animation is a crude demonstration.

Interesting animation. But is there an actual pumping action there? From the Zapruder film we see umbrella man lift up the umbrella as JFK approaches as if to make sure JFK saw it. So we have a movement of the umbrella up. But i'm not sure there is enough evidence to say he was moving it up and down in a pumping action. I just see him lift the umbrella up, which would be a natural thing to do if you wanted JFK to see the umbrella as part of a protest.

[Gerry Down]

[Walt Cakebread]

You answered your own question.  Oswald was a nut.  Nuts do crazy things.  Only Oswald knows his exact subjective motivation.  Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with the fact that some republicans in Dallas didn't like JFK.

 Oswald was a nut.  Nuts do crazy things.

Really ?? you think the USMC don't screen their recruits?   Don't you think that the DI's deliberately provoke a man who may have mental problems?   

Anybody who would say that Lee Oswald was a nut is probably about a nickel short of having a half dollar.   

[James Hackerott]

Interesting animation. But is there an actual pumping action there? From the Zapruder film we see umbrella man lift up the umbrella as JFK approaches as if to make sure JFK saw it. So we have a movement of the umbrella up. But i'm not sure there is enough evidence to say he was moving it up and down in a pumping action. I just see him lift the umbrella up, which would be a natural thing to do if you wanted JFK to see the umbrella as part of a protest.

Gerry, my bad. I was wanting to show the difference in up/down umbrella positions from both Willis and Zapruder points of view. However, I left the animation in repeat mode (default for animations) which, unfortunately, showed a pumping motion that was not my intent. I do not see any evidence for what I would call a pumping motion in the Zapruder film. As such, my animation is more confusing than helpful. I will edit my post with these static frames without the animation.