EXHIBITS E & F
THE REHEARSALS
Chicago. Miami. Dallas.
PROTECTIVE INTELLIGENCE DIGEST
CHICAGO FIELD OFFICE
CASE NUMBER:
CO-2-34,030
DATE:
October 30, 1963
CLASSIFICATION:
SECRET
SUBJECT:
POTUS Visit — Chicago, November 2, 1963
ADVANCE AGENT:
SA Maurice G. Martineau
REPORTING AGENT:
SA Abraham W. Bolden
THREAT ASSESSMENT: ELEVATED
The Chicago Field Office has identified multiple credible threats to POTUS in connection with the scheduled November 2, 1963 motorcade from O'Hare International Airport to Soldier Field for the Army-Air Force football game.
Two distinct threat streams have been developed: (1) a four-man Cuban exile team reportedly en route to Chicago with intent to assassinate the President, and (2) a lone subject, THOMAS ARTHUR VALLEE, who has made explicit threats against POTUS and maintains a position of tactical advantage overlooking the motorcade route.
Given the convergence of these threats and the inability to neutralize all subjects prior to POTUS arrival, this office recommends IMMEDIATE CANCELLATION of the motorcade.
FBI informant LEE reports a four-man team of Cuban exile gunmen has departed Miami for Chicago with intent to assassinate POTUS during the November 2 motorcade. Subjects are described as experienced shooters with military training, possibly connected to anti-Castro paramilitary operations.
The team is reportedly traveling in two vehicles and is equipped with high-powered rifles with telescopic sights. Their operational plan, as understood, involves positioning shooters at elevated positions along the motorcade route with overlapping fields of fire.
Two of the four subjects have been tentatively identified and are under surveillance. The remaining two subjects have not been located.
NAME:
VALLEE, Thomas Arthur
DOB:
June 14, 1930
OCCUPATION:
Lithographer, IPP Litho-Plate Co.
ADDRESS:
625 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL
MILITARY:
U.S. Marine Corps, 1952-1956
ASSIGNMENT:
Camp Otsu, Japan (U-2 Support)
DISCHARGE:
Medical — psychiatric evaluation
AFFILIATIONS:
John Birch Society; Cuban exile contacts
WEAPONS:
M1 rifle; 2,500 rounds ammunition (in vehicle)
Subject VALLEE came to the attention of this office following reports of explicit threats against POTUS made to coworkers at IPP Litho-Plate. Subject has stated his intention to "get" the President and has expressed violent anti-Kennedy sentiment consistent with his known John Birch Society affiliation.
CRITICAL: Subject's place of employment, IPP Litho-Plate Co., is located at 625 W. Jackson Boulevard. This building directly overlooks the northwest corner of Jackson and Halsted, where the presidential motorcade is scheduled to execute a slow turn before proceeding to Soldier Field. Subject has direct access to upper-floor windows providing an unobstructed line of fire to the turning point below.
Vehicle search conducted October 29 pursuant to anonymous tip revealed: one M1 rifle (30-06 caliber), approximately 2,500 rounds of ammunition, hunting knife, hand-drawn map of the motorcade route.
Subject's military background at Camp Otsu, Japan is noted with interest. Camp Otsu served as a support facility for the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft program. Subject received expert rifle training during Marine Corps service.
NOTE: Parallels to current FBI subject of interest Lee Harvey OSWALD are noted for the record: both ex-Marines, both with intelligence community adjacency (U-2 program), both with documented psychiatric issues, both expressing violent anti-Kennedy rhetoric. These parallels may be coincidental.
The convergence of two independent threat streams — a professional Cuban team and a positioned lone subject — creates an unacceptable risk profile for the Chicago visit. Even if the Cuban team is neutralized, subject VALLEE's position overlooking a mandatory slow-turn in the motorcade route represents a vulnerability that cannot be adequately addressed without either (a) removing the subject from the area, which would require grounds not currently available, or (b) altering the motorcade route, which would require extensive re-advance work not possible in the time remaining.
RECOMMENDATION
CANCEL MOTORCADE — PROCEED BY HELICOPTER TO SOLDIER FIELD
Respectfully submitted,
SA Abraham W. Bolden, Badge #36
U.S. Secret Service, Chicago Field Office
Look at this document. Look at the professionalism. The care. Every detail noted. Every angle covered. The Secret Service knew exactly what a real threat looked like — a man with a rifle overlooking a slow turn in the motorcade route. They knew how to assess it. They knew how to respond. Recommend cancellation. It's right there in black and white. This is what protection looks like when the system is working. Remember that. — CDJ
* * *
CASE DISPOSITION REPORT
CO-2-34,030
DATE:
November 4, 1963
STATUS:
CLOSED — PROTECTIVE ACTION SUCCESSFUL
White House informed of threat assessment. Motorcade cancellation recommended. Decision pending.
White House confirms motorcade CANCELLED. POTUS to proceed directly from O'Hare to Soldier Field via Air Force helicopter. Chicago police coordinating diversionary route announcement.
Subject VALLEE taken into custody by Chicago PD at Jackson and Halsted on traffic violation (failure to signal lane change). Vehicle impounded. Weapons secured as evidence. Subject held pending bond hearing.
POTUS arrives Soldier Field without incident. Protective mission successful.
Two of four subjects identified and placed under FBI surveillance through departure from Chicago on November 2. Remaining two subjects not located. Investigation continuing under FBI jurisdiction. Secret Service involvement concluded.
Subject released on bond November 4 following traffic hearing. Weapons returned to subject per court order (no applicable statute for seizure). Subject remains on Protective Intelligence watch list. No further action at this time.
CASE CLOSED
Maurice G. Martineau
Special Agent in Charge
Chicago Field Office
They arrested him on a traffic violation. "Failure to signal lane change." That's tradecraft. That's how you remove a threat without creating a spectacle. They knew exactly who Vallee was and exactly where he'd be. They waited until the motorcade would have been passing his position, then picked him up on a pretext. Clean. Professional. The system worked precisely as designed. Two weeks later in Dallas, a man with almost an identical profile would be in position at another slow turn on another motorcade route. But there would be no traffic stop. No last-minute cancellation. What changed? — CDJ
* * *
PROTECTIVE INTELLIGENCE DIGEST
MIAMI FIELD OFFICE
CASE NUMBER:
MM-2-34,089
DATE:
November 12, 1963
CLASSIFICATION:
SECRET
SUBJECT:
POTUS Visit — Miami, November 18, 1963
SOURCE:
Miami PD Intelligence / Informant SOMERSET
THREAT ASSESSMENT: CRITICAL
Miami Police Department Intelligence Unit has provided tape recording and transcript of conversation between established informant William SOMERSET and subject Joseph Adams MILTEER, recorded November 9, 1963. Subject MILTEER describes in specific detail a planned assassination of POTUS "from an office building with a high-powered rifle."
Subject further describes post-assassination plan to "pick up somebody within hours afterward... just to throw the public off." The specificity and operational detail of subject's statements exceeds typical threat rhetoric and indicates access to genuine planning information.
Given the credibility of the source and the specificity of the threat, this office recommends IMMEDIATE CANCELLATION of the Miami motorcade.
NAME:
MILTEER, Joseph Adams
DOB:
February 26, 1902
RESIDENCE:
Quitman, Georgia
OCCUPATION:
Independent wealth (family inheritance)
AFFILIATIONS:
Constitution Party; White Citizens Council; Congress of Freedom
STATUS:
Known right-wing extremist; previous threats documented
SOMERSET: I think Kennedy is coming here on the 18th, or something like that, to make some kind of speech...
MILTEER: You can bet your bottom dollar he is going to have a lot to say about the Latins, because II'll tell you, they have found out what it is now. The more determined we get, the now we'll—
SOMERSET: Well, Kennedy is a, is a traitor, is that what you mean?
MILTEER: That's right.
SOMERSET: Well how in the hell do you figure would be the best way to get him?
MILTEER: From an office building with a high-powered rifle.
[...]
SOMERSET: They are really going to try to kill him?
MILTEER: Oh yeah, it is in the working. Brown himself, brown is just as likely to get him as anybody in the world. He hasn't said so, but he tried to get Martin Luther King.
[...]
SOMERSET: Hitting this Kennedy is going to be a hard proposition. I tell you, I believe, you may have figured out a way to get him, the office building and all that. I don't know how them Secret Service agents cover all them office buildings—
MILTEER: Well, if they have any suspicion, they do that of course. But without any suspicion, chances are that they wouldn't. You take any city, there's plenty of office buildings around that, you know, a high-powered rifle...
[...]
SOMERSET: But what would you do about, well, what about the loss of the man that—
MILTEER: Well, if they did pick up somebody, you know, within hours afterward... they would pick up somebody within hours afterward, if anything like that would happen, just to throw the public off.
The operational specificity of subject MILTEER's statements — particularly the method (high-powered rifle from office building), the timing (imminent), and the post-operational plan (arrest of designated patsy "to throw the public off") — indicates access to actual planning rather than mere rhetoric.
Source SOMERSET has provided reliable intelligence in the past and is considered credible. Miami PD Intelligence concurs that this represents an actionable threat requiring immediate protective response.
The description of the assassination method is consistent with the Chicago threat assessment of October 30 (CO-2-34,030), suggesting possible coordination between extremist networks or a common operational template being distributed.
RECOMMENDATION
CANCEL MOTORCADE — SUBSTITUTE HELICOPTER ARRIVAL
Robert Jameson
Special Agent in Charge
Miami Field Office
Read it again. "From an office building with a high-powered rifle." Nine days before Dallas. And this: "They would pick up somebody within hours afterward... just to throw the public off." The patsy. He's describing the patsy. On tape. Nine days before Dallas. And the Secret Service did exactly what they were supposed to do — they cancelled the motorcade and brought Kennedy in by helicopter. The system was working. The threat had been identified. The response was appropriate. Nine days later, the same threat would materialize in Dallas. Same method. Same plan. But a different response. — CDJ
* * *
CASE DISPOSITION REPORT
MM-2-34,089
DATE:
November 19, 1963
STATUS:
CLOSED — PROTECTIVE ACTION SUCCESSFUL
White House advance team briefed on MILTEER threat. Motorcade cancellation recommended. Decision pending.
Motorcade CANCELLED per White House direction. POTUS to arrive Miami International via Air Force One, proceed to Americana Hotel by helicopter. Outdoor exposure minimized.
POTUS arrives Americana Hotel without incident. Speech delivered at Inter-American Press Association meeting. Departure by helicopter. No outdoor motorcade exposure. Protective mission successful.
Subject MILTEER not detained. Monitoring continues through source SOMERSET. FBI notified and assuming lead on conspiracy investigation. Secret Service involvement in Miami concluded.
NOTE: MILTEER expected to travel to Dallas for November 22 POTUS visit. FBI Dallas office notified. Recommend continued surveillance.
CASE CLOSED
"MILTEER expected to travel to Dallas." They knew. They knew he was heading to Dallas. They notified FBI Dallas. And then... nothing. The same man who described the assassination plan on tape was allowed to travel freely to Dallas four days later. Where he would be photographed in Dealey Plaza, twenty minutes before the shooting, wearing the same clothing he'd described to Somerset. The system hadn't failed. It had been turned off. — CDJ
* * *
PROTECTIVE INTELLIGENCE DIGEST
DALLAS FIELD OFFICE
CASE NUMBER:
DL-2-34,115
DATE:
November 19, 1963
SUBJECT:
POTUS Visit — Dallas, November 22, 1963
ADVANCE AGENT:
SA Winston G. Lawson
THREAT ASSESSMENT: MINIMAL
[ NO THREAT STREAMS DOCUMENTED ]
No credible threats identified in Dallas Field Office jurisdiction.
Standard protective protocols deemed sufficient.
Motorcade route approved without modification.
Standard motorcade formation authorized. Route proceeds from Love Field via Main Street through downtown Dallas, executing turn onto Houston Street and subsequent 120-degree turn onto Elm Street through Dealey Plaza before proceeding to Trade Mart via Stemmons Freeway.
NOTE: Elm Street turn requires reduction to approximately 10 mph due to turn radius. Surrounding structures include Texas School Book Depository (7 floors), Dal-Tex Building (commercial), Dallas County Records Building, and County Criminal Courts Building.
ROUTE MODIFICATION: Original route via Main Street direct to Stemmons modified November 18 to include Elm Street passage per local advance coordination. Modification provides improved Trade Mart approach.
Presidential vehicle (SS-100-X) to proceed with standard detail. Note: Agents will not ride running boards per advance coordination. Motorcycle escort reduced to four outriders, minimum required formation.
Building security: Local police to secure route. No building-by-building sweep authorized for structures adjacent to Elm Street turn. Windows along route not required to be closed.
RECOMMENDATION
PROCEED AS SCHEDULED
Three cities in three weeks.
Chicago: Threat identified — ex-Marine with rifle overlooking slow turn on motorcade route. Response: motorcade cancelled, subject arrested.
Miami: Threat identified — "office building with a high-powered rifle," patsy to be picked up afterward. Response: motorcade cancelled, helicopter substituted.
Dallas: "No credible threats identified." Motorcade proceeds. Route modified to include 120-degree turn through Dealey Plaza at 10 mph. Agents pulled from running boards. Motorcycle escort reduced. Building windows not secured. A seven-story building directly overlooking the kill zone was left unguarded.
The Secret Service knew how to protect a president. They had just done it. Twice. What changed in Dallas wasn't the threat profile — it was identical to Chicago. What changed was the response.
Someone turned off the system. — CDJ
* * *
POST-INCIDENT MEMORANDUM
EYES ONLY — DESTROY AFTER READING
DATE:
November 29, 1963
FROM:
Chief James J. Rowley
TO:
SAIC Martineau, Chicago
RE:
CO-2-34,030 (VALLEE) — File Disposition
Per directive from EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY, all materials relating to Case CO-2-34,030 (subject VALLEE, Thomas Arthur) are to be collected and forwarded to Headquarters for secure archival. No copies to be retained at field office level.
References to subject VALLEE and the November 2 Chicago threat assessment are to be omitted from any testimony or documentation provided to the Warren Commission investigation.
Agent Bolden has been advised that his involvement in this matter is concluded. His cooperation in maintaining appropriate discretion is expected and appreciated.
This directive is classified TOP SECRET — EYES ONLY and should be destroyed after compliance is confirmed.
The Chicago files were destroyed. Agent Bolden — the first Black Secret Service agent assigned to the White House detail, the man who filed the original Vallee threat assessment — would later try to tell the Warren Commission about Chicago. He was arrested on counterfeiting charges before he could testify. The charges were brought by a criminal informant who later recanted, admitting he'd lied at the prosecution's direction. Bolden served six years in federal prison. When he got out, he continued trying to tell the story. No one in a position of authority ever listened.
Joseph Milteer, the man who predicted "an office building with a high-powered rifle" and a patsy "to throw the public off," was photographed in Dealey Plaza at 12:10 PM on November 22, twenty minutes before the shooting. He was never questioned by the Warren Commission. He called Willie Somerset that evening. Somerset recorded the call:
"Well, I told you so. It happened like I told you, didn't it? It happened from a window with a high-powered rifle."
Milteer died in 1974 when his home exploded. It was ruled a gas leak. — CDJ
Three cities. Three weeks. The same threat profile. The same operational template — a rifleman at a high window overlooking a slow turn in the motorcade.
In Chicago, the system identified the threat and responded appropriately. Motorcade cancelled. Patsy arrested. President protected.
In Miami, the system identified the threat and responded appropriately. Motorcade cancelled. Helicopter substituted. President protected.
In Dallas, the system was turned off. No threat assessment. No cancellation. Route modified to maximize exposure. Security reduced. Buildings unsecured. The President was placed in an open car, moving at ten miles per hour through a kill zone, with no agents on the running boards and no motorcycle screen.
This was not a failure of intelligence. This was not a failure of protection. This was not incompetence or bad luck or tragic coincidence.
The men who protected the President knew exactly how to do their jobs. They had proven it twice in three weeks. Whatever happened in Dallas, it was not because the Secret Service didn't know how to stop it.
It was because someone made sure they wouldn't. — CDJ, Georgetown, 1978