The Newman Building

[Paul Cummings]

55 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

This whole pistol whipping thing therefore is proof of nothing. 

I guess a dead body would be the proof you would need?

[Ron Bulman]

1 hour ago, Gerry Down said:

Martin might have wanted to see what was in Banisters file on LHO to sell some info to the press on the presidents assassin and Banister might have hit Martin for being so sneaky. There would have been nothing unusual about Banister having a file on LHO given LHOs high profile that summer being on TV and radio and all.

This whole pistol whipping thing therefore is proof of nothing. 

JG, Banister beat you over the head with his Magnum, remember that? JM, How could I forget it, he nearly killed me.  JG, Youve told me you were good friends for more than ten years.  JM, at least, maybe more.  JG  And he'd never hit you before?  The official police report said this was over phone bills.  JM It involved more than that.

We'd been drinking at Katzenjammers (next door, I've read somewhere they had a tv on with assassination coverage).  Back at the office later, Bannister in a bad mood, accused JM of going through his private files.  JM I blew up, I never went through his private things, I told him I remembered the people I had seen around the office that summer.  That's when he hit me, fast as a flash.  That's all it took, he went bananas.

JM  Other characters, David Ferrie.  JG  Was he there often?  JM Often?  He practically lived there.  

"So, Jack", I said.  "Just what was going on in Banister's office?"  He held up his hand.  "I can't answer that.  I can't go into that stuff at all.  I think I better go."  "Hold on Jack, what's the problem with our going into what was happening at Banister's office?"  

"What's the problem?" He said.  "What's the problem he repeated as in disbelief.  the problem is that we're going to bring the goddamned federal government down on our backs.  Do i need to spell it out?  I could get killed-and so could you."

Pgs. 30-32.  On The Trail Of The Assassins, Jim Garrison.

[James DiEugenio]

1 hour ago, Paul Cummings said:

I guess a dead body would be the proof you would need?

LOL. ROTF.

 

 

 

[Ron Bulman]

Here's an older picture, based on the cars in it, 1950's?  Note the actual true corner on the ground floor is the entrance to the Dixie cafe (clear with a magnifying glass).  Garrison and someone else mentions it being Mancuso's. Where Oswald, Ferrie and others were also seen.  Another picture I saw earlier showed it's sign clearly, with a Falstaff beer sign on the front.

 

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks for these Ron.

Its almost incredible how they made this building disappear. 

 Banister was out of there pretty quickly, the FBI covered it up or tried to, and Banister swore Roberts to secrecy.

She would not talk to Garrison.

And Mr. Newman was a big l--r.  The HSCA staff did not believe him.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by James DiEugenio

[Ron Bulman]

I hesitated to post these earlier because of the source.  I've seen them before elsewhere.  The related article tells a convoluted bs story.  However, it nor the pictures themselves provide a source, so I assume they are in the public domain or they wouldn't have been posted without a source.  So, I won't say where I found them.  though one forum member knows for sure.

Mancuso's with the Post Office in the background.

 

Including Katzenjammer's where Banister and Martin got drunk the afternoon of 11/22/63 watching assassination coverage.

 

 

 

Last, here is the entrance on Lafayette, well down from Camp.

[James DiEugenio]

Again, really neat.

Banister was really upset when Oswald put that address on that flyer.

Jessie Core, Shaw's right hand man, just happened to pick one up.

He sent it to the FBI with the address arrowed.

Like, hey, don't have him screw up with the ones at the ITM.

[Gerry Down]

6 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

Back at the office later, Bannister in a bad mood, accused JM of going through his private files.  JM I blew up, I never went through his private things, I told him I remembered the people I had seen around the office that summer.  That's when he hit me, fast as a flash.  That's all it took, he went bananas.

JM  Other characters, David Ferrie.  JG  Was he there often?  JM Often?  He practically lived there.  

Banister may have been running paramilitary activities out of the Newman building. Even Bugliosi admits that was a possibility in his book "Reclaiming History".

So what happened here is that Banister and Jack Martin got into a drunken argument. Drunken arguments happen all the time (Probably celebrated Kennedys death a bit too much much like I'd imagine alot of people would celebrate if Biden or Trump were assassinated). And to get the upper hand in the argument Martin foolishly insinuated he might tell the authorities about these paramilitary activities and quickly found out that threatening Banister was not a good idea and got a beating.

Still don't see the connection of any of this to Oswald or the Presidents assassination.

Jack Martin was doing his best in his reports to authorities of the weekend of the assassination to tie Oswald to Ferrie (to get the upper hand in an old grudge with Ferrie) but in not one of those reports did he ever say he saw Oswald with Ferrie. Big problem. He only started saying he saw Oswald and Ferrie together years later. But his reports on the weekend of the assassination give the true game away - despite Martin being in the Newman building all Summer, he never once saw Ferrie and Oswald together. In her earliest account Roberts never saw Oswald at the office either.

And it would make good sense not to allow Oswald in Banisters office. Oswald was a known defector as per the newspaper reports. There is no way in hell Banister would let Oswald inside his office near all his communist files which numbered in the thousands because Oswald would get an idea of the layout of Banisters office, could top off his communist buddies and stage a break in off the office and take Banisters files.

[Gerry Down]

4 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

Thanks for these Ron.

Its almost incredible how they made this building disappear. 

 Banister was out of there pretty quickly, the FBI covered it up or tried to, and Banister swore Roberts to secrecy.

She would not talk to Garrison.

And Mr. Newman was a big l--r.  The HSCA staff did not believe him.

 

 

All of this can be explained by the fact Banister may have been running paramilitary activities out of the Newman building. Even Bugliosi, in Reclaiming History, admits Banister may have been involved in paramilitary activities. And Oswald had drawn such public attention to the Newman building because 544 Camp street had appeared on a few of his FPCC pamphlets. The FBI were using Banister as a source and so it was in their interest after the assassination to make sure no untoward, incorrect, attention was drawn to Banister or the Newman building.

Banister running paramilitary activities out of the Newman building does not mean Oswald and Banister knew each other. The two items can potentially be completely unrelated.

[James DiEugenio]

I always thought that the info that Summers got from Roberts' daughter was really interesting

She said that she and a friend both saw Oswald at 544 Camp Street. "I knew he had his pamphlets and books and everything in a room along from where we were...I got the impression Oswald was doing something to make people believe he was something he wasn't." 

How about Vernon Gerdes: Saw Oswald and Ferrie together with Banister. 

Bill Gaudet: Saw Oswald with Ferrie.

George Higginbotham  tells Banister, geez Guy you are sharing an office with people leafleting in the streets. Guy snaps:  "Cool it, one of them is mine."

And Roache and Smith?  

And then we find out in the nineties that both the CIA and FBI had anti FPCC crusades going on in the early sixties?  And LHO just happens to be the only member of his chapter? 

Just recall, Wesley Liebeler was in charge of the WC inquiry into New Orleans.  The guy who told Odio: Warren told us to bury any evidence of a conspiracy.

He followed his orders did he not?

Edited May 27, 2023 by James DiEugenio

[Joe Bauer]

Martin was pistol whipped by Banister so viciously Martin had to be hospitalized...correct?

This was man whom Bannister occasionally hired to do some PI work if even small in nature?

Still, explain how Bannister could beat Martin ( a man he knew more than an acquaintance ) so brutally he had to be hospitalized?

What if Martin had died as a result of his beating by Bannister?

Martin was a slightly built man, older and in bad general health. A beating to him would have more of a toll than if he was a younger, healthier man.

That was a heavy duty assault and battery attack upon Martin by Bannister.

Something truly serious must have occurred to bring out that level of blind rage wrath out of Bannister.

Stolen Oswald files could have done it. Martin threatening Bannister as well.

Banister died not much more than a year later? Naked? 

Like Ferry?  Just another illogically strange and suspicious death.

New Orleans at that time...a very weird, deviant and corrupt place in every way.

Edited May 27, 2023 by Joe Bauer

[Gerry Down]

19 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

I hesitated to post these earlier because of the source.  I've seen them before elsewhere.  The related article tells a convoluted bs story.  However, it nor the pictures themselves provide a source, so I assume they are in the public domain or they wouldn't have been posted without a source.  So, I won't say where I found them.  though one forum member knows for sure.

Mancuso's with the Post Office in the background.

 

Including Katzenjammer's where Banister and Martin got drunk the afternoon of 11/22/63 watching assassination coverage.

 

 

 

Last, here is the entrance on Lafayette, well down from Camp.

Awesome pictures 👍

[James DiEugenio]

Joe:

According to Allen Campbell, Banister died while living with Roberts.

IIRC, and do not hold me to this, I think he said that it was at her apartment?

This is the woman he swore to secrecy. And she did so for 15 years.

I  agree : for Banister to go off like that and to smash Martin to the point that Roberts had to intercede for fear he was going to kill him?

That was in all  probability caused by the reference to the JFK killing.

Edited May 28, 2023 by James DiEugenio

[James DiEugenio]

BTW, when the Garrison  inquiry was breaking and there was a lot of publicity going on in the papers and on TV, Ray Marcus called up Liebeler.

He said, look its pretty clear that the FBI did a cover up of what was going on in New Orleans.

He added that he did not necessarily blame Wesley for that.

But now that is was breaking open, why not come out and say that you were kept in the dark.

Liebeler stayed quiet for a few seconds.

He then said, "You know Ray, sometimes we get involved in matters that are much bigger than ourselves."

Talk about an understatement.

[Ron Bulman]

I didn't fully quote Martin earlier.  "We'd both been drinking at Katzenjammer's - maybe more than usual, because of the assassination and all.  Banister especially."

So, they were told or heard on the radio JFK had been shot.  They went to the bar next door.  Bannister especially celebrates.

Then comes news of Lee Harvey Oswald being arrested.

He was supposed to be killed.  This gave Banister pause.  He knew it could lead back to him.  As did Martin.  Both knew Oswald, Ferrie and more had been there.

"Well, when we came back to the office, Banister started bitching about one thing then then another.  He was in a mean mood.  Then all of a sudden, he accused me of going through his private files.  I never went through his private stuff ever -- absolutely never."

Was Banister PO'd because Oswald had not been killed in the TSBD, TT or in between?