John Judge is conducting civil negotiations with Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings about free speech in Dealey Plaza.
Judge is chair of the Coalition on Political Assassinations, which has opened early registration for its conference in Dallas on the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination.
Both are good omens for the fall.
Among the confirmed COPA speakers are:
Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, JD, MD (a COPA founding president), Walt Brown, Robert Groden, David Talbot, Ernst Titovets (Oswald’s best friend in the USSR), Russ Baker, Joan Mellen, Bill Kelly, Bill Simpich, Chris Pike, and Stan Weeber.
To which, I would add my personal opinion that Bill Simpich is perhaps the most incisive JFK assassination scholar working today. His work does more to clarify the events leading to JFK’s assassination than anything that has been published recently.
To see and hear him would be worth the price of a ticket. Register here.
I wonder if this is just lip service on the part of the mayor.He’ll hear out Mr.Judge and still will exclude the critics of the official storyline.
http://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/2013/02/battle-of-dealey-plaza-copa-talking.html
COPA will “stay on Point” and these are the points that are to be made:
• Dealey Plaza is a public park and national historical landmark It belongs to history and the American people. It has been open and allowed free speech for decades. Attempting to block access to thousands of people who will be coming from all over the world that day to Dallas will cause safety issues and embarrass the City
• Dealey Plaza is the site a long tradition of commemoration of November 22. Starting in 1964, Midlothian (TX) Mirror editor Penn Jones, Jr. began a tradition of a Moment of Silence on the Grassy Knoll lest history forget the crime of the assassination or the government refusal to solve the murder and bring the perpetrators to justice.. COPA has continued the tradition, now for 49 years. We should be allowed to have our event at that time and place.
• We are the vast majority. Polls show that 85% of the American people reject the official theory of a “lone gunman.” Members of the Kennedy family have now come toDallas and said the same thing. To try to silence the majority on November 22, 2013 will not work.
• We will hold a solemn and dignified event that celebrates the life and legacy of President Kennedy. We always have but we also continue to call for resolution of this unsolved homicide. We have no problem with the City’s desire to honor the life and legacy of JFK. Frankly, it’s long overdue. However, it is not appropriate to do so at the murder scene. When we honor President Lincoln’s life and legacy, we don’t do it at the Ford Theater on April 14th.
• The city has failed to follow its own permitting process. We have applied for a permit for three years. We were told permits could only be granted one year in advance. When we applied on November 23, 2012. We were told an exclusive permit for the whole of Dealey Plaza had already been issued in advance to the Sixth Floor Museum. Then, it was discovered that the Sixth Floor never submitted the signed permit application as required and it ultimately abandoned the effort. Our application was the only one submitted timely and properly. This city has not acted in good faith.
• First Amendment protections have been violated.. The director of the Sixth FloorMuseum was quoted in the Dallas Morning News saying that they applied for the permit to be “proactive” on behalf of the Mayor’s office to prevent “conspiracy theory” from being presented. This is why we assert that there has been a content-based denial of our rights to free speech under the First Amendment, which is specifically prohibited in public parks, both local and federal.
• The Mayor ‘s community-based planning committee for the 50th anniversary has excluded the viewpoint of the majority. We have asked to be allowed to join the committee or to make presentations to it. We have been denied or ignored at every point. This exclusion created some of the current problems. We should be represented there.
• There are alternatives that would work better. Open Dealey Plaza to the American people at that critical hour on November 22 and allow free speech and events like the Moment of Silence all day. Move the time and place of the Mayor’s event to JFK Memorial park, City Hall Plaza, as in the past, or have a ticketed event at the Sixth Floor Museum. These alternatives will also obviate the need for expensive security.