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

FBI Interview: Oswald 11/22/63 Book Depository Activity Account

This section contains an FBI FD-302 report dated November 25, 1963 (dictated November 24, 1963), documenting an interview of Oswald at the Dallas Police Homicide and Robbery Bureau conducted by Captain J. W. Fritz in the presence of Special Agent James W. Bookhout. Oswald denied owning any rifle and stated that he had seen a rifle two days earlier at the Texas School Book Depository in the possession of Mr. Truly and two other gentlemen. Oswald described his activities on November 22, 1963, claiming that at the time of the building search he was on the second floor after purchasing a Coca-cola from a soft-drink machine. He stated that after being identified to a police officer by Mr. Truly, he took his Coke to the first floor, ate lunch in the employees’ lunch room, stood outside with foreman Bill Shelly for five to ten minutes, and then went home. Oswald said he left work because, based on Shelly’s remarks, he did not expect more work that day, and he subsequently went to a movie where he was arrested. He added that his regular hours were 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and that his duties required him to visit multiple floors of the building.

FBI Interview: Oswald Post-Assassination Travel and Personal Details

This section reproduces a second FBI FD-302 report documenting an interview of Oswald at the Homicide and Robbery Bureau on November 23, 1963 (dictated November 24, 1963), attended by Captain Fritz, Special Agent Bookhout, Secret Service personnel T. J. Tully and David B. Grant, U.S. Marshal Robert I. Nash, and Dallas detectives. Oswald stated that after leaving the Book Depository he boarded a city bus, obtained a transfer, and ultimately took a cab from the bus to his North Beckley apartment after two blocks due to traffic; he described a fare of approximately 85 cents, a woman who asked the driver to call her a cab, and that he changed his reddish button-down shirt and gray trousers upon arriving home. He denied bringing any package to work, denied telling Wesley Frazier that he went to Irving to obtain curtain rods, and described eating a cheese sandwich and apple alone in the Depository lunch room. Oswald denied owning or possessing a rifle, denied keeping a rifle in Ruth Paine’s garage (acknowledging stored sea bags, suitcases, and boxes), denied Communist Party membership, claimed membership in the ACLU, and stated he had purchased a pistol about six months earlier without disclosing the source. He denied shooting the President and asked to contact Attorney Abt in New York; he also declined a polygraph examination without counsel and admitted carrying a Selective Service card bearing the name Alek James Hidell without discussing its use.