The Milteer Threat

[Gil Jesus]

Miami Police recording of a conversation between Willie Somerset and Joseph Milteer regarding Milteer's foreknowledge of the assassination.

 

 

[Larry Hancock]

Actually its not quite that specific,  Milteer was being recorded as part of a sting operation related to radical racists - the sting was in anticipation of acquiring a gun they planned to use to kill MLK.   As part of the conversation Milteer described how easily JFK could be shot as well, by a shooter in a tall building etc.   Given that Milteer also referred to Washington DC,  this conversation and the remark about JFK was referred to the FBI who did interview some of the individuals Milteer mentioned and it was also referred to the Secret Service - however since it referred to Washington D.C. the Secret Service filed it in the Protective Services File for that location - and unfortunately as we now know they had no real concept that a threat in one location might mean a threat somewhere else so that meant only a file pull for DC would have retrieved it.

Stu Wexler and I cover Milteer and this incident at great length in our book on the King assassination, The Awful Grace of God.  On a side note, we also cover the fact that the National States Rights Party..to which Milteer belonged and which he promoted...was actively recruiting and training rifle teams to attack JFK as well as leading public figures and Jewish financial figures as well.  On the Texas trip the Secret Service actually picked up a threat report in San Antonio related to the NSRP.

[Denny Zartman]

1 hour ago, Larry Hancock said:

Actually its not quite that specific,  Milteer was being recorded as part of a sting operation related to radical racists - the sting was in anticipation of acquiring a gun they planned to use to kill MLK.   As part of the conversation Milteer described how easily JFK could be shot as well, by a shooter in a tall building etc.   Given that Milteer also referred to Washington DC,  this conversation and the remark about JFK was referred to the FBI who did interview some of the individuals Milteer mentioned and it was also referred to the Secret Service - however since it referred to Washington D.C. the Secret Service filed it in the Protective Services File for that location - and unfortunately as we now know they had no real concept that a threat in one location might mean a threat somewhere else so that meant only a file pull for DC would have retrieved it.

Stu Wexler and I cover Milteer and this incident at great length in our book on the King assassination, The Awful Grace of God.  On a side note, we also cover the fact that the National States Rights Party..to which Milteer belonged and which he promoted...was actively recruiting and training rifle teams to attack JFK as well as leading public figures and Jewish financial figures as well.  On the Texas trip the Secret Service actually picked up a threat report in San Antonio related to the NSRP.

Hi Larry. I'm confused about what you mean by "not that specific." Milteer says the hit on Kennedy is "in the works." The detail about the tall office building and the detail of a patsy being quickly picked up and blamed to deceive the public sound fairly specific to me. Also, according to Jim Marrs's "Crossfire" 2013 edition pg 245, Milteer called Somersett from Dallas on November 22, and said JFK was on the way and that JFK would never again be in Miami. Marrs also writes that after the assassination Milteer met Somersett again and said "Everything ran true to form. I guess you thought I was kidding you when I said he would be killed from a window with a high-powered rifle....I don't do any guessing."

I'm also wondering if Miami-based Milteer prediction, the Miami Parrot Jungle incident, and the possible assassination plots planned for Miami and Tampa were all related. Why would anyone sheep-dip a resident of Dallas/New Orleans in Miami, anyway?

Edited December 31, 2022 by Denny Zartman

[David Boylan]

Way back in the old days when we had to request hard copies of documents from NARA and through the help and kindness of fellow researchers like Anna-Marie Kuhns-Walko, Lisa Pease, Joe Backes, Jeff Caufield, Mary Ferrell and Larry Haapanen I attempted to put together a group of people that Milteer would have associated with.

This what I wrote some 30 years ago but it needs some serious updating.

 

[Guest]

Bye

Edited February 15, 2023 by Lance Payette

[Larry Hancock]

Denny,  by not that specific I meant specific in regard to Dallas or even Texas.  If  you dig into the full background of Milteer and his associates you see that his remarks are consistent with the general practices that the NSRP and its fellow travelers were using in all their plans for rifle attacks....as an example shooting from an adjacent building and the use of a patsy for quick pick up by the police is found in the MLK shooting with James Earl Ray as the patsy.  In that attack they even set up a secondary patsy in that case just in case Ray was captured, talked and implicated his sponsors. 

As to what Somersett said afterwards, that's a long story and requires more context on Sommersett than I can give here.

As Lance said, we certainly do know there were a variety of threats - and active talk against JFK - from several groups by 1963 and even from different sets of people within those groups, its really easy to get lost in the weeds as he says if  you attempt to overlay all of it on the attack in Dallas.  

[Denny Zartman]

22 minutes ago, Larry Hancock said:

Denny,  by not that specific I meant specific in regard to Dallas or even Texas.  If  you dig into the full background of Milteer and his associates you see that his remarks are consistent with the general practices that the NSRP and its fellow travelers were using in all their plans for rifle attacks....as an example shooting from an adjacent building and the use of a patsy for quick pick up by the police is found in the MLK shooting with James Earl Ray as the patsy.  In that attack they even set up a secondary patsy in that case just in case Ray was captured, talked and implicated his sponsors. 

As to what Somersett said afterwards, that's a long story and requires more context on Sommersett than I can give here.

As Lance said, we certainly do know there were a variety of threats - and active talk against JFK - from several groups by 1963 and even from different sets of people within those groups, its really easy to get lost in the weeds as he says if  you attempt to overlay all of it on the attack in Dallas.  

Yes, but if you overlay it on the purported attempt in Miami, it seems fairly clear. At least it does to me. And that's not even mentioning the bystander photographed in Dealey Plaza that seems to look a lot like Milteer, which lines up with the conversation reported by Marrs. Did Somersett know about that picture, or is that another coincidence? When is it reasonable to have doubts?

[Denny Zartman]

If the Parrot Jungle incident happened in Miami and was an Oswald sheep dipping operation similar to the Odio incident, how does that not connect to Dallas? I'm genuinely wondering.

[Larry Hancock]

I know of threats in Miami coming out of the anti-Castro Cuban exile community and a major effort by the SS to preempt them....targeting the Cuban exile community where the threats originated and using assets out of the JMWAVE station as part of that effort.  

There seems to be no direct connection between those threats and what Milteer referred to nor the names he mentioned as being potentially tied to an an attack on JFK, all of whom were radical racists. As far as Oswald being patsied in Miami, as far as I know that all came out of the Sturgis/Buchanan camp after the assassination with stories he had been in Miami at times but nothing to do with the fall trip specifically. 

As far as other potential patsies in Miami, I'm aware of that discussion but as far as I can see its interesting but largely speculation as connected to any actual threat to or attack on JFK.  The problem is this subject is so broad you can find at least a few pieces of information to support almost any conspiracy scenario and I've gone down way too many of those roads myself. 

As far as Milteer in Dallas,  that was tackled and disproved by the HSCA and there is also a motel receipt Lamar Waldron found placing him in the Carolinas at the time.. ....at this point I've seen a "look alike" for virtually any person of interest in this showing up in DP so unless I have separate corroboration that they were there (as say with Felipe Vidal) then I have to remain skeptical. 

What I offer in these comments is simply my personal research so I'll leave it at that.

 

[Benjamin Cole]

4 hours ago, Larry Hancock said:

I know of threats in Miami coming out of the anti-Castro Cuban exile community and a major effort by the SS to preempt them....targeting the Cuban exile community where the threats originated and using assets out of the JMWAVE station as part of that effort.  

There seems to be no direct connection between those threats and what Milteer referred to nor the names he mentioned as being potentially tied to an an attack on JFK, all of whom were radical racists. As far as Oswald being patsied in Miami, as far as I know that all came out of the Sturgis/Buchanan camp after the assassination with stories he had been in Miami at times but nothing to do with the fall trip specifically. 

As far as other potential patsies in Miami, I'm aware of that discussion but as far as I can see its interesting but largely speculation as connected to any actual threat to or attack on JFK.  The problem is this subject is so broad you can find at least a few pieces of information to support almost any conspiracy scenario and I've gone down way too many of those roads myself. 

As far as Milteer in Dallas,  that was tackled and disproved by the HSCA and there is also a motel receipt Lamar Waldron found placing him in the Carolinas at the time.. ....at this point I've seen a "look alike" for virtually any person of interest in this showing up in DP so unless I have separate corroboration that they were there (as say with Felipe Vidal) then I have to remain skeptical. 

What I offer in these comments is simply my personal research so I'll leave it at that.

 

Getting out into left field...but in Miami, did not the Secret Service request and receive aid from the Cuban exile community in countering threats? 

My reason for asking...wondering if the Secret Service again requested assistance in Dallas, but with backward results....

[Kirk Gallaway]

4 hours ago, Denny Zartman said:

Yes, but if you overlay it on the purported attempt in Miami, it seems fairly clear. At least it does to me. And that's not even mentioning the bystander photographed in Dealey Plaza that seems to look a lot like Milteer, which lines up with the conversation reported by Marrs. Did Somersett know about that picture, or is that another coincidence? When is it reasonable to have doubts?

Denny, I think Marr's photo you cite  was originally from one of Groden's  books in the 90's. I first post a better photo of Milteer, then a comparison of photos between Milteer and the man in Dealey Plaza in Nov. 63. I personally don't think they're the same. Think what you will.

[Larry Hancock]

Ben, the threats in Miami involved possible demonstrations or worse from the anti-Castro community so no there was no outreach from the SS, instead they contacted CIA and asked for their help in identifying possible bad actors based on their sources within the Cuban community .  There were no similar threats in Dallas other than from various ultra right actors and special measures were taken to identify them and prepare for demonstrations and violence, especially at the Trade Center luncheon.

[David Andrews]

6 hours ago, Denny Zartman said:

the bystander photographed in Dealey Plaza that seems to look a lot like Milteer

The man in two Plaza photos who resembles Gerry Hemming is even more convincing.  Was he helping Oswald beat them all to it, as Lance brings up?

[Joseph McBride]

It seems like a no-brainer to me that either the Miami

PD screwed up bigtime or, if they passed the obvious, highly specific

threat up the ladder, the Secret Service or FBI

let it happen. Vince Palamara's work on the

Secret Service shows how corrupted they

were; to kill a leader, you usually have to corrupt

his or her bodyguards or provide them with

sufficient grievance. And Hoover hated JFK and RFK. The

warning signs were there, blinking code red, and were not followed.

[Gil Jesus]

7 hours ago, Joseph McBride said:

It seems like a no-brainer to me that either the Miami

PD screwed up bigtime or, if they passed the obvious, highly specific

threat up the ladder, the Secret Service or FBI

let it happen. Vince Palamara's work on the

Secret Service shows how corrupted they

were; to kill a leader, you usually have to corrupt

his or her bodyguards or provide them with

sufficient grievance. And Hoover hated JFK and RFK. The

warning signs were there, blinking code red, and were not followed.

I agree with Mr. McBride. You can't kill the President of the United States if his bodyguards are doing their job.

Some other interesting facts:

In the three previous successful Presidential assassinations:

All three assassins' weapon of choice was a handgun because it let the assassin get close enough to the President to fire at point blank range. No one ever tried to kill a President with a rifle.

All three assassins fired at a distance of 3 feet or less. No one had ever tried to kill a President at 80 yards.

All three victims were either stationary or walking at a normal pace ( 2 1/2 ) mph. No one ever tried to kill a President moving faster.

All three assassins had a motive for killing the President.

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Gil Jesus