Friday Morning at the Dallas Morning News
Jack Ruby learned of the shooting of President Kennedy while at the Dallas Morning News on Friday, November 22, where he had gone to place regular weekend advertisements for his two nightclubs. Arriving around 11 or 11:30 a.m., Ruby briefly discussed diet pills with two employees, obtained a brochure from columnist Tony Zoppi, and then spoke with advertising employee Don Campbell from about noon to 12:25 p.m. about business matters, including the financial troubles of his clubs. Campbell did not recall Ruby mentioning the Presidential motorcade or behaving unusually. About ten minutes after the shooting, before news reached the second floor, John Newnam observed Ruby sitting where Campbell had left him, having completed his advertisement and reading a newspaper. Ruby criticized the black-bordered “Welcome, Mr. Kennedy” advertisement associated with Bernard Weissman, a topic he had earlier raised with his sister Eva Grant by phone. At around 12:45 p.m., when an employee announced shots had been fired at the President, Ruby displayed what Newnam described as “stunned disbelief.” As advertisers canceled their weekend business, Ruby suggested the Weissman ad had motivated some cancellations. Ruby appeared visibly shaken and pale, made only brief calls to his assistant Andrew Armstrong and his sister, telling Armstrong to close the Carousel, and remarked to Newnam that he would have to leave Dallas. He departed the building in tears, with Newnam estimating his departure at about 1:30 p.m.
Ruby’s Alleged Visit to Parkland Hospital
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