Jack Ruby made comments on the morning of President John F Kennedy’s assassination to an FBI informant that suggested he knew what was about to take place, according to new records released Friday.
Ruby, who was eventually charged with killing Lee Harvey Oswald, asked an FBI informant if he would like to ‘watch the fireworks’ with him as Kennedy’s motorcade drove through downtown Dallas just hours before the assassination took place.
The records are part of the JFK Files, which have been released incrementally over the past few months by the National Archives after being sealed for 25 years.
Oswald shot and killed JFK on November 22, 1963, in Dallas.
Just two days later Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as he was being transferred from city to county jail.
Jack Ruby made comments on the morning of President John F Kennedy’s assassination to an FBI informant that suggested he knew what was about to take place, according to new records released Friday. JFK and Jackie Kennedy are pictured just moments before he was shot
Ruby (pictured right corner with his arm outstretched), who was eventually charged with killing Lee Harvey Oswald (pictured center), asked an FBI informant if he would like to ‘watch the fireworks’ with him as Kennedy’s motorcade drove through downtown Dallas just hours before the assassination took place
Oswald shot and killed JFK on November 22, 1963, in Dallas. Just two days later Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as he was being transferred from city to county jail. Oswald is pictured left just before he was shot, and right as he was being transferred to the hospital after Ruby shot him
The interaction on the morning of the president’s murder wasn’t relayed to the FBI until March 1977, despite being told to an FBI informant 14 years prior. The informant was named as Bob Vanderslice, from Dallas.
‘The informant stated that on the morning of the assassination, Ruby contacted him and asked if he would like to “watch the fireworks,’ an FBI record from April 6, 1977, says. That record was first highlighted by University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato, according to CBS.
‘He was with Jack Ruby and standing at the corner of the Postal Annex Building facing the Texas School Book Depository Building at the time of the shooting.
‘Immediately after the shooting, Ruby left and headed toward the area of the Dallas Morning News building.’
In 1977 Vanderslice told the FBI that Ruby didn’t say anything to him immediately following the assassination.
However, after her was arrested for killing Oswald, Ruby was also arrested on an unrelated charge. Vanderslice got to know Ruby better when he was in the Dallas County Jail.
Ruby, who had mob connections, died while he was in prison, sparking the idea that he may be part of a conspiracy to kill the 35th president.
Ruby, who had mob connections and owned a Dallas nightclub, died while he was in prison, sparking the idea that he may be part of a conspiracy to kill the 35th president
The JFK Files are being released in batches by the National Archives. On Friday 10,744 records were released online in the fifth mass disclosure of information this year
The JFK assassination Files are being released in batches by the National Archives, per President Donald Trump’s orders. On Friday 10,744 records were released online in the fifth mass disclosure of information this year.
All of the records were supposed to be released at once on October 26 – per a 1922 law that gives federal agencies 25 years to analyze them before they have to be released.
Intelligence agencies, specifically the FBI and CIA, have objected to the release based on concerns that information could be revealed about sources who are still alive.
But Trump gave a six-month timeline, from November through April, during which all of the files must be released.