The Magic Bullet

[Bill Chapman]

It's debatable whether he actually punched McDonald.  But it doesn't matter, because he wasn't arrested for punching McDonald.  The arrest report doesn't mention that at all.  The box for "officer(s) injured" isn't even checked.

See any other boxes checked there, John?

[Bill Chapman]

I'm not "belittling" Brewer, I'm saying that doesn't constitute probable cause for the police to search, beat up, and arrest somebody for murder.

Are you certain that police had the intent to beat somebody up for looking funny?

Are you certain the surrounding events, in combination, wouldn't at least be enough reason to check out what Brewer noticed? I liken Brewer's response to the present-day Homeland Security caution for citizens to 'see-say'... a kind of 'just in case' proposition.

Are you sure Oswald didn't somehow provoke the police into trying to subdue him?

[John Iacoletti]

Are you certain that police had the intent to beat somebody up for looking funny?

What difference does it make what their "intent" was?  They did what they did without probable cause.

Are you certain the surrounding events, in combination, wouldn't at least be enough reason to check out what Brewer noticed?

Are you equating an illegal search, police brutality, and illegal arrest with "checking out what Brewer noticed"?

Are you sure Oswald didn't somehow provoke the police into trying to subdue him?

Are you sure the police didn't provoke Oswald into defending himself?

[Gary Craig]

[Gary Craig]

[Gary Craig]

[Andrew Mason]

There's no evidence that he "pulled his gun on him" or "tried to fire the gun".  How many times are you going to repeat those myths?

I suggest you familiarize yourself with the concept of "probable cause".

So are you saying that it is a myth that McDonald actually said this (3 H 300):

Mr. MCDONALD. His right hand was on the pistol.
Mr. BALL. And which of your hands?
Mr. MCDONALD. My left hand, at this point.
Mr. BALL. And had he withdrawn the pistol-
Mr. MCDONALD. He was drawing it as I put my hand.
Mr. BALL. From his waist?
Mr. MCDONALD. Yes, sir.
....

Mr. Mr. MCDONALD. Yes, sir. When this hand-we went down into the seats.
Mr. BALL. When your left hand went into the seats, what happened?
Mr. MCDONALD. It felt like something had grazed across my hand. I felt
movement there. And that was the only movement I felt. And I heard a snap.
I didn?t know what it was at the time.
Mr. BALL. Was the pistol out of his waist at that time?
Mr. MCDONALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Do you know any way it was pointed?
Mr. MCDONALD. Well, I believe the muzzle was toward me, because the sensation
came across this way. To make a movement like that, it would have to be
the cylinder or the hammer.
Mr. BALL. Across your left palm?
Mr. MCDONALD. Yes, sir. And my hand was directly over the pistol in this
manner. More or less the butt. But not on the butt.

? Because that is evidence on which one could easily conclude that Oswald pulled his gun on the arresting officer and pulled the trigger with the gun pointing at the officer.  You may not believe it, but that does not make that evidence mythical. It exists.

Or perhaps you were suggesting that this was evidence of a mythed shot...

[John Iacoletti]

So are you saying that it is a myth that McDonald actually said this (3 H 300):

Mr. MCDONALD. His right hand was on the pistol.
Mr. BALL. And which of your hands?
Mr. MCDONALD. My left hand, at this point.
Mr. BALL. And had he withdrawn the pistol-
Mr. MCDONALD. He was drawing it as I put my hand.
Mr. BALL. From his waist?
Mr. MCDONALD. Yes, sir.

Do you not see any difference between "he was drawing it" and "pulled a gun"?  By McDonald's account, was the gun still in the waistband when he grabbed Oswald's hand?  If so, then by McDonald's account, Oswald did not pull a gun.

....

Mr. Mr. MCDONALD. Yes, sir. When this hand-we went down into the seats.
Mr. BALL. When your left hand went into the seats, what happened?
Mr. MCDONALD. It felt like something had grazed across my hand. I felt
movement there. And that was the only movement I felt. And I heard a snap.
I didn?t know what it was at the time.

So as far as you're concerned, "I heard a snap" is the same as "Oswald tried to fire the gun"?  How many different hands were on this gun when this "snap" supposedly was heard?

? Because that is evidence on which one could easily conclude that Oswald pulled his gun on the arresting officer and pulled the trigger with the gun pointing at the officer.

Was it pointed at the officer?  Not according to Officer Walker:

"The gun finally got out of his belt, and it was about waist high and pointed out at about a 45 degree angle. I turned around and I was holding Oswald trying to get his arm up behind him in a hammerlock, and I heard it click. I turned around and the gun was still pointing at approximately a 45 angle. Be pointed slightly toward the screen, what I call.

And not according to Officer Hutson either:

Mr. BELIN. Do you know which way the pistol was pointing when you heard the snap?
Mr. HUTSON. Was pointing toward the back of the seat.
Mr. BELIN. It was pointing toward the back of the seat?
Mr. HUTSON. Yes; toward the screen in the front of the theatre, in that direction.

You may not believe it, but that does not make that evidence mythical. It exists.

Yes, it exists.  It just doesn't support the conclusions that you have made.