Editorial

The ‘Magic Bullet’ JFK Theory Is Officially Dead (Apparently)

(AFP/AFP via Getty Images)

Kay Smythe News and Commentary Writer
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A book set to be published in October may finally put an end to the long-running “magic bullet” theory of John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination.

“The Final Witness,” written by former Secret Service agent Paul Landis, is apparently so explosive that even The New York Times is finally pointing out how ridiculous the “magic bullet” theory always was. The “magic bullet”  or “single bullet” theory was essentially invented and supported by the Warren Commission, which investigated Kennedy’s assassination, according to LiveScience.

It posits that the president was shot by the same bullet which injured Texas Gov. John Connally, who was sitting in the front seat of the presidential limousine as it made its way through Dallas. Apparently Lee Harvey Oswald shot a 6.5 millimeter bullet through Kennedy, which ricocheted through his body and somehow also hit Connally’s chest, wrist, and thigh. Yeah, sure…

In Landis’ book, he claims he found a bullet resting on the top of the back of the seat in JFK’s motorcade, Vanity Fair reported. He claims he picked it up, put it in his pocket, and brought it to the hospital where he and Jackie Kennedy (for whom he worked) sat for a short time. He then placed the bullet on a white cotton blanket on the president’s stretcher, the book alleges, per Vanity Fair.

Landis was never asked to sit for an interview regarding the events of that day. And he spent years with PTSD from witnessing the horrific murder firsthand. It took him 50 years to start processing the assassination, and people are finally getting to hear his testimony.

Vanity Fair, the NYT and even JFK’s nephew — 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — believe Landis. “The magic bullet theory is now dead,” RFK Jr. said in a Tweet shared Friday. “This preposterous construction has served as the mainstay of the theory that a single shooter murdered President Kennedy since the Warren Commission advanced it 60 years ago under the direction of the former CIA Director Allen Dulles whom my uncle fired.” (RELATED: ‘Do Your F*cking Job’: James Van Der Beek Goes On Absolutely Epic Rant Against DNC)

Without a “magic bullet” to explain all those wounds, the existence of a second shooter becomes almost impossible to dismiss.

Sixty years later, it looks like the Warren Commission did what every big industry (archaeology, tech, climate, the military-industrial complex) does when trying to manipulate the public, or do a quick, rushed-job: pull the most nominal pieces of evidence, ignore everything else, only talk to people who agree with their version of events, and move on. Are you honestly surprised?