Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

第八章 She did not then know Oswald’s address in Dallas.[C6-367]

Lee Harvey Oswald fabricated the existence of a New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, printing unauthorized FPCC promotional materials, distributing “Hands Off Cuba!” handbills, and even appearing on local radio as the group’s self-proclaimed spokesman, though national FPCC leadership confirmed the chapter was never authorized, no funds were allocated to support his activities there, and he never actually operated out of the office address he claimed for the organization. The Commission also investigated potential ties between Oswald and Dallas-area right-wing groups active ahead of President Kennedy’s 1963 visit, including the organizers of a black-bordered “Welcome Mr. Kennedy” advertisement published in the Dallas Morning News on the day of the assassination and the authors of inflammatory “Wanted for Treason” handbills distributed in the city in the days before the President’s arrival, and found no evidence connecting Oswald to any of these groups or their members, nor any proof to support unsubstantiated allegations that one of the ad’s organizers had met with Jack Ruby and Patrolman J.D. Tippit prior to the assassination.

Oswald’s New Orleans FPCC Activities

Oswald corresponded with FPCC national headquarters, submitted membership application forms, printed “Hands Off Cuba!” circulars, and announced plans to print chapter membership cards, later reporting he was evicted from his claimed office and operated out of a PO box, sustaining public interest but attracting no new members. He distributed printed handbills on at least three occasions, was once arrested and fined during a disturbance with anti-Castro Cuban refugees he had previously approached for information on anti-Castro groups, claimed to police his FPCC chapter had 35 members, appeared on local New Orleans radio as an FPCC spokesman, and listed the FPCC as authorized to receive mail at his PO box after returning to Dallas. The purported New Orleans FPCC chapter he led was entirely fictitious: national headquarters never authorized the chapter or provided funding, ceased correspondence after May 29, 1963, and Oswald’s later reports exaggerated his activity scope and public reception. There is no evidence he ever operated an office at the 544 Camp St. address stamped on his materials, and all FPCC-branded materials were printed commercially without national approval. His membership card listed “A. J. Hidell” as chapter president, a known alias Oswald used, and no other chapter members were ever identified; the only other people seen distributing FPCC materials with him on August 9, 1963, were two transient individuals he paid briefly, one of whom testified he had no prior connection to Oswald, and the FBI found no prior knowledge of Oswald among undercover Cuban groups in New Orleans.