JFK remembered at shooting site

DALLAS – About 500 people crowded Saturday into the plaza where John F. Kennedy was shot 45 years ago, all agreeing it was right to remember a pivotal moment in American history, even if they didn’t all believe the official line.

People stood shoulder to shoulder and bowed their heads during a moment of silence at 12:30 p.m. Some hawked JFK memorabilia or pitched conspiracy theories to visitors. Others offered firsthand accounts of their memories of the killing.

Visiting from Pipersville, Pa., 66-year-old Barbara Koenig said coming to the site was something she needed to do.

“I remember the day of the assassination, and I’ve always wanted to visit this site,” she said. “It’s just an eerie feeling. It kind of takes you back 45 years to what you were doing and thinking about the whole tragedy of the affair. I burst into tears (then). In fact, I’m ready to cry now.”

Nearby, street vendors held out commemorative newspapers hoping would-be customers would buy them. One person roamed the crowd with a sign questioning whether it was a lone gunman who killed Kennedy or several.

The day Kennedy was assassinated is one people should always remember, but its truth still has not been entirely revealed, argued John Judge, head of the Coalition On Political Assassinations, a Washington-based organization that researches political assassinations.

Judge believes Kennedy’s assassination was a government conspiracy and could easily be solved if all of the facts were revealed.

On Saturday, two X’s spray-painted in the street marked the spots where Kennedy was hit as his motorcade drove through the plaza.