RFK, Jr. "No lone gunman."

                                           Robert F. Kennedy, Jr and sister Rory Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy suspected conspiracy in his brother’s assassination, son says

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/01/a-first-in-50-years-two-jfk-relatives-speak-in-dallas.html/

By David Flick   dflick@dallasnews.com  10:24 pm January 11, 2013

Late former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy publicly suported the Warren Commission’s conclusion that his brother, President John F. Kennedy, had been killed by a lone gunman, but privately he had serious doubts.

In a round-table discussion Friday night in the Dallas Arts District, the attorney general’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said, “My father believed the Warren Report was a shoddy piece of crafstmanship.”

The appearance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with his sister Rory, was a rare public speaking engagement in Dallas by any member of their family in the 50 years since the president’s assassination.

The two were guests of PBS talk show host Charlie Rose, who interviewed them for an hour and a half on a sparsely decorated stage at the Winspear Opera House.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his father was concerned enough about the accuracy of the Warren Report that he had Justice Department investigators look into allegations the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, had received aid from the Mafia, the CIA or other organizations.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not say whether his father ever concluded that such groups were involved, but he said, “My father thought that somebody was involved.”

The reference to the Warren Commission was one of the few moments during the evening when the subject of the 1963 assassination in Dallas came up.

Most of the evening was devoted to discussions of life in the Kennedy family and of sometimes funny memories.

But other recollections were sobering, such as when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned that the president’s widow, Jacqueline Kennedy spent much of the five years after the assassination outside the United States because she feared for her children’s safety.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 58, an environmentalist, is the third son of Ethel and the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, the president’s brother. Rory Kennedy, 44, is the youngest of 11 children. She is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Robert was 9 at the time of the president’s death. Rory was not born until five years after the assassination.

Organizers said there were no plans to broadcast Friday’s event, which was the first of a year-long set of programs at the AT&T Performing Arts Center commemorating President Kennedy’s legacy.

RFK children speak about assassination in Dallas

"The evidence at this point I think is very, very convincing that it was not a lone gunman."  - RFK, Jr.  

By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press | January 11, 2013 | Updated: January 12, 2013 1:00am

http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/RFK-children-speak-about-assassination-in-Dallas-4185595.php

DALLAS (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is convinced that a lone gunman wasn't solely responsible for the assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and said his father believed the Warren Commission report was a "shoddy piece of craftsmanship."

Kennedy and his sister, Rory, spoke about their family Friday night while being interviewed in front of an audience by Charlie Rose at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. The event comes as a year of observances begins for the 50th anniversary of the president's death.

Their uncle was killed on Nov. 22, 1963, while riding in a motorcade through Dallas.

Five years later, their father was assassinated in a Los Angeles hotel while celebrating his win in the California Democratic presidential primary.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his father spent a year trying to come to grips with his brother's death, reading the work of Greek philosophers, Catholic scholars, Henry David Thoreau, poets and others "trying to figure out kind of the existential implications of why a just God would allow injustice to happen of the magnitude he was seeing."

He said his father thought the Warren Commission, which concluded Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing the president, was a "shoddy piece of craftsmanship." He said that he, too, questioned the report.

"The evidence at this point I think is very, very convincing that it was not a lone gunman," he said, but he didn't say what he believed may have happened.

Rose asked if he believed his father, the U.S. attorney general at the time of his brother's death, felt "some sense of guilt because he thought there might have been a link between his very aggressive efforts against organized crime."

Kennedy replied: "I think that's true. He talked about that. He publicly supported the Warren Commission report but privately he was dismissive of it."

He said his father had investigators do research into the assassination and found that phone records of Oswald and nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald two days after the president's assassination, "were like an inventory" of mafia leaders the government had been investigating.

He said his father, later elected U.S. senator in New York, was "fairly convinced" that others were involved.

The attorney and well-known environmentalist also told the audience light-hearted stories Friday about memories of his uncle. As a young child with an interest in the environment, he said, he made an appointment with his uncle to speak with him in the Oval Office about pollution.

He'd even caught a salamander to present to the president, which unfortunately died before the meeting.

"He kept saying to me, 'It doesn't look well,'" he recalled.

Rory Kennedy, a documentary filmmaker whose recent film "Ethel" looks at the life of her mother, also focused on the happier memories. She said she and her siblings grew up in a culture where it was important to give back.

"In all of the tragedy and challenge, when you try to make sense of it and understand it, it's very difficult to fully make sense of it," she said. "But I do feel that in everything that I've experienced that has been difficult and that has been hard and that has been loss, that I've gained something in it."

"We were kind of lucky because we lost our members of our family when they were involved in a great endeavor," her brother added. "And that endeavor is to make this country live up to her ideals.

                                              Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Rory Kennedy

Late former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy publicly supported the Warren Commission’s conclusion that his brother, President John F. Kennedy, had been killed by a lone gunman, but privately he had serious doubts.

In a round-table discussion Friday night in the Dallas Arts District, the attorney general’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said, “My father believed the Warren Report was a shoddy piece of craftsmanship.”

The appearance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with his sister Rory, was the first public speaking engagement in Dallas by any member of their family in the 50 years since the president’s assassination.

The two were guests of PBS talk show host Charlie Rose, who interviewed them for an hour and a half on a sparsely decorated stage at the Winspear Opera House.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his father was concerned enough about the accuracy of the Warren Report that he had Justice Department investigators look into allegations the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, had received aid from the Mafia, the CIA or other organizations.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not say whether his father ever concluded that such groups were involved, but he said, “My father thought that somebody was involved.”

The reference to the Warren Commission was one of the few moments during the evening when the subject of the 1963 assassination in Dallas came up.

Most of the evening was devoted to discussions of life in the Kennedy family and of sometimes funny memories.

But other recollections were sobering, such as when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned that the president’s widow, Jacqueline Kennedy spent much of the five years after the assassination outside the United States because she feared for her children’s safety.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 58, an environmentalist, is the third son of Ethel and the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, the president’s brother. Rory Kennedy, 44, is the youngest of 11 children. She is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Robert was 9 at the time of the president’s death. Rory was not born until five years after the assassination.

Organizers said there were no plans to broadcast Friday’s event, which was the first of a year-long set of programs at the AT&T Performing Arts Center commemorating President Kennedy’s legacy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2261263/JFK-assassination-Robert-Kennedy-speaks-death-uncle.html

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 00:00 EST, 12 January 2013 | UPDATED: 10:14 EST, 12 January 2013

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is convinced that a lone gunman wasn't solely responsible for the assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and said his father believed the Warren Commission report was a 'shoddy piece of craftsmanship.'

Kennedy and his sister, Rory, spoke about their family Friday night while being interviewed in front of an audience by Charlie Rose at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. The event comes as a year of observances begins for the 50th anniversary of the president's death.

Their uncle was killed on Nov. 22, 1963, while riding in a motorcade through Dallas. Five years later, their father was assassinated in a Los Angeles hotel while celebrating his win in the California Democratic presidential primary.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his father spent a year trying to come to grips with his brother's death, reading the work of Greek philosophers, Catholic scholars, Henry David Thoreau, poets and others 'trying to figure out kind of the existential implications of why a just God would allow injustice to happen of the magnitude he was seeing.'

He said his father thought the Warren Commission, which concluded Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing the president, was a 'shoddy piece of craftsmanship.' 

He said that he, too, questioned the report.

'The evidence at this point I think is very, very convincing that it was not a lone gunman,' he said, but he didn't say what he believed may have happened.

Rose asked if he believed his father, the U.S. attorney general at the time of his brother's death, felt 'some sense of guilt because he thought there might have been a link between his very aggressive efforts against organized crime.'

Kennedy replied: 'I think that's true. He talked about that. He publicly supported the Warren Commission report but privately he was dismissive of it.'

He said his father had investigators do research into the assassination and found that phone records of Oswald and nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald two days after the president's assassination, 'were like an inventory' of mafia leaders the government had been investigating.

He said his father, later elected U.S. senator in New York, was 'fairly convinced' that others were involved.

The attorney and well-known environmentalist also told the audience light-hearted stories Friday about memories of his uncle. As a young child with an interest in the environment, he said, he made an appointment with his uncle to speak with him in the Oval Office about pollution.

He'd even caught a salamander to present to the president, which unfortunately died before the meeting.

'He kept saying to me, "It doesn't look well,'" he recalled.

Rory Kennedy, a documentary filmmaker whose recent film 'Ethel' looks at the life of her mother, also focused on the happier memories. She said she and her siblings grew up in a culture where it was important to give back.

'In all of the tragedy and challenge, when you try to make sense of it and understand it, it's very difficult to fully make sense of it,' she said. 

'But I do feel that in everything that I've experienced that has been difficult and that has been hard and that has been loss, that I've gained something in it.'

'We were kind of lucky because we lost our members of our family when they were involved in a great endeavor,' her brother added. 'And that endeavor is to make this country live up to her ideals.'

The city of Dallas will mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy later this year with a ceremony featuring the tolling of church bells, a moment of silence and readings by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough from the president's speeches.

'I think what we want to do is focus on the life and legacy and leadership of President Kennedy,' Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said. 'The tone is going to be serious, simple, respectful, and it's going to be about his life.'

The commemoration on November 22, 2013, will take place in Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy's motorcade through downtown Dallas was passing as shots rang out. It will be free and open to the public.

A Negative, Condescending view:

Not Even Charlie Rose Could Rein in RFK Jr. in Dallas Last Night. Also: Conspiracy Theories!

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/mixmaster/2013/01/charlie_rose_live_the_kennedy.php

By Betsy Lewis Sat., Jan. 12 2013

Last night was billed as a "once-in-a-lifetime interview with Charlie Rose, acclaimed broadcast journalist with both film and documentary director, Rory Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., exploring the lives and legacy of the Kennedy family."

There were moments when that actually happened, courtesy of Rose and Rory, during Friday night's program at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Mostly, though, it was a bizarre performance by a bizarre and charming Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who avoided answering questions about his family by diving into stories -- some of which he could not possibly have witnessed firsthand -- about his father's political career and his uncle's presidency, or yelling some emphatic slogan disguised as commentary on today's political climate.

Charlie Rose's entrance elicited cheers, and he is among the best who ever played the game. On this night, though, his hands were full with trying to contain RFK Jr. Some of his failed attempts included:

Rose, to Rory: "We have turned him loose, haven't we?"

"I have a lot of other things I want to talk about in terms of family."

"Let me ask some other things here. It's important that we do this."

So where, you might be wondering, did RFK Jr. take this strange little evening? When he was speaking, he was animated and entertaining; when he wasn't, he leaned into the round oak table with his chin in his hand, covering his mouth. It was like RFK Jr. had an automatic on/off switch. (It was mostly on.)

There was celebrity name-dropping (Muhammed Ali, Larry David), and funny stories about an elephant at a Kennedy family gathering who hated Amy Carter and tormenting J. Edgar Hoover. Those are the stories we came to hear.

It got weird when he went into a historical lecture about his father's investigation into the JFK assassination. He was speaking about it as if he had been part of it, then cited a book called The Unspeakable by Jim Douglas as being the best book on the subject, then kept referencing things from the book. He was losing the audience, so he burst out, "My father believed that the Warren Report was a shoddy piece of craftsmanship," to the delighted applause of the mostly Baby Boomer audience.

Whenever Charlie Rose would ask about the family, RFK Jr. would evade the question until he heard either delighted Boomer applause or delighted Boomer laughter. One of his responses to a family question was an unrelated story about World War II. A lady behind me who must have recently Netflixed The Iron Lady kept saying, "Here here!" for the benefit of us unfortunate people around her.

Some of the strangest RFK Jr. outbursts with the biggest applause were:

"We're becoming a national security state!" (applause, "Here here!")

"Corporations want profits!" (applause, "Here here!")

"Corporations are great things, but we'd be nuts to let them run our government!" (applause, "Here here!")

"Nationalism in Africa! The end of colonialism!"

At this point, I don't think anyone knew what the hell he was talking about. It was something about the Kennedy family airlifting President Obama's father out of Kenya to begin a new life in America.

When Roe tried to get this beast of an interview back on topic, RFK Jr. mugged to the audience, asking "Mind if I tell a story?" and teasing us with his boyish grin. Oh, there will be applause, and there will definitely be a story.

Exasperated, Charlie finally asked him, "Why haven't you run for office?" RFK Jr. answered, "I have six kids." (He should have answered: "My 1983 arrest for heroin possession.")

The most revealing exchange, near the end of the evening, was this:

Rose: "There's a fierce loyalty in the family."

Rory: "Yes."

RFK Jr.: "Yes."

And then silence.

Rory is RFK Jr.'s youngest sister, born six months after their father's assassination. Her documentaries for HBO have examined cultural class differences, AIDS, nuclear power and Abu Ghraib. Her latest film is Ethel, about her mother, which all three participants took pains to plug throughout the evening. (Mayor Mike Rawlings did as well in his introduction of the guests). Rory was relaxed, funny, and normal. Her only weak moment was this statement of the obvious:

"I think there's still a huge divide between rich and poor in this country."

It was the slightest bit of condescension by someone who has observed it, but never had to live it. She gets credit for good intentions, though. Unlike her big brother, Rory handled the evening gracefully.