Morley's Take on LHO, Crooks, The Historiography of the JFKA

[Benjamin Cole]

 

Morley notes the tenaciousness of the JFKA "lone gunman" version in modern-day historiography. 

 

The Latest From JFK Facts

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Lone Gunman Searched for JFK Details

Thomas Crooks use high tech tools as he focused on Trump's local appearance

JEFFERSON MORLEY JUL 25

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A schematic recreation of the gunfire that almost killed former president Trump.

The lone gunman believed in the myth of the lone gunman. 

A week before the rally where he fired a volley of shots at former president Donald Trump, 20-year old Thomas Crooks searched for answers to “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,” said FBI director Christopher Wray at a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday, reference to the alleged assassin who allegedly used a rifle to kill President John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963.

“That’s a search that’s obviously significant in terms of his state of mind,” the FBI director said during the hours-long hearing, which was dominated by questions about the attack on the Republican presidential nominee. “He was interested in public figures and — I think this is important — starting around July 6 or so, he became very focused on former president Trump and this rally.”

“FBI investigators have said so far that the gunman did not appear to have any discernible ideology, suggesting he was not motivated primarily by political animosity,” said the Washington Post. 

Crook’s apparent interest in Oswald suggests his motive was notoriety, not politics. After all, the official investigation never found a motive for Oswald and Oswald himself denied committing the crime, a point the Post failed to mention.

Asked whether the FBI believed there were any accomplices or co-conspirators in the shooting, Wray answered, “Not at this time, but again the investigation is ongoing.”

Wray’s revelation adds to the impression that Crooks was what Oswald was not: a lone gunman, animated by dreams of glory and empowered by 21st century technology. Crooks surveilled the Trump rally with a photographic drone and used encrypted message apps, which have thwarted law enforcement efforts to pin down his motive.

Crooks’ interest in Oswald also shows how JFK’s assassination is deeply embedded in America’s collective memory, a distant crime that remain at the center of our politics.

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