And there were a couple of officers fighting him and taking the gun
away from him, and they took the gun from him, and he was fighting,
still fighting, and I heard some of the police holler, I don't know who
it was, "Kill the President, will you." And I saw fists flying and they
were hitting him.
Mr. BELIN. Was he fighting back at that time?
Mr. BREWER. Yes; he was fighting back.
Mr. BELIN. Then what happened?
Mr. BREWER. Well, just in a short time they put the handcuffs on him
and they took him out.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see police officers hit him after they got the
handcuffs on him?
Mr. BREWER. No; I didn't see them.
Mr. BELIN. Did you see any police officer hit Oswald after Oswald
stopped fighting?
Mr. BREWER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Did you hear Oswald say anything?
Mr. BREWER. As they were taking him out, he stopped and turned around
and hollered. "I am not resisting arrest," about twice. "I am not
resisting arrest." And they took him on outside.
Mr. BELIN. Then what happened?
Mr. BREWER. Well, then, the police officers and plainclothesmen,
whoever they were, got everybody that was in the theatre and set them
aside, and another officer was taking their names and addresses of all
the people that were in the theatre.
Mr. BELIN. When you first saw this man, when you saw him leave what you
referred to as the lobby of your shoestore building, what is it, marble
or concrete?
Mr. BREWER. Terrazzo.
Mr. BELIN. Terrazzo between the sidewalk and your front door?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Where were you when you first saw him?
Mr. BREWER. I was behind the counter there by the hose bar.
Mr. BELIN. About how far were you from the front door?
Mr. BREWER. Ten feet.
Mr. BELIN. Could you see through there to get a good view?
Mr. BREWER. Yes; the doors are solid glass.
Mr. BELIN. Then you saw this man leave?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mr. BREWER. I went out the front door and stood in front of the store
and watched him.
Mr. BELIN. You stood in front of the door?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Where was he walking when you first saw him? As you got out
in front of your store?
Mr. BREWER. He was, I would say, he was in front of the furniture
store. What is the name of that?
Mr. BELIN. Would that be Thompson's Furniture Store?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Did you know--notice how fast this man was walking?
Mr. BREWER. Just a little faster than usual.
Mr. BELIN. Faster than usual walk?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Then about how far were you behind him?
Mr. BREWER. Well, I stood there until he walked into the theatre. I
don't really know what I was thinking about.
Mr. BELIN. You stood in front of your store as he walked into the
theatre?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. About how far is the entrance of the theatre from your store?
Mr. BREWER. I would say 50 or 60 feet--yards.
Mr. BELIN. Then after you saw him turn into the theatre, what did you
do?
Mr. BREWER. Then I walked toward the theatre.
Mr. BELIN. At an average pace, or above average?
Mr. BREWER. I don't know.
Mr. BELIN. You don't remember? About how long after you got to the
theatre did the police come in, if you can remember?
Mr. BREWER. I don't remember that either.
Mr. BELIN. Do you remember about what time it was when the police came
in?
Mr. BREWER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything else you can think of that in any way
bears on this?
Mr. BREWER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Mr. Brewer, I am handing you what has been marked
"Commission Exhibit 150," and ask you to state whether or not that
looks like the shirt you saw the man wear?
Mr. BREWER. That looks like the shirt, yes.
Mr. BELIN. Did you notice whether the man that wore it had any holes in
the elbows at all, or not?
Mr. BREWER. I didn't notice.
Mr. BELIN. But this Exhibit 150, looks like the shirt?
Mr. BREWER. It looks like the shirt.
Mr. BELIN. Was he wearing a jacket? I believe you answered that before.
Mr. BREWER. No, he didn't have on a jacket.
Mr. BELIN. Did you hear this man as he was in the theatre say anything
other than "I am not resisting arrest."?
Mr. BREWER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Did he say anything, or could you not understand it?
Mr. BREWER. He said something, but I couldn't understand what it was.
Mr. BELIN. When he said, "I am not resisting arrest," was this before
or after they had the handcuffs on him?
Mr. BREWER. After.
Mr. BELIN. Mr. Brewer, you have the right, if you want, to come back
and read this deposition and sign it, or you can just waive the signing
of it and let the court reporter send it directly to us in Washington.
Do you have any preference on it?
Mr. BREWER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Do you want to waive it?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. We want to thank you for all of your cooperation on this.
I might ask one other question. We chatted for a few minutes when we
first met before we started taking this deposition, did we not?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything we talked there about that isn't recorded
in this written testimony?
Mr. BREWER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything you said which is different insofar as
stating the facts and what you have stated here on the record?
Mr. BREWER. No.
Mr. BELIN. When we first met, what is the fact as to whether or not I
just asked you to tell your story, or whether or not I tried to tell
you what I thought the story was?
Mr. BREWER. You asked me to tell the story first.
Mr. BELIN. Is that what you did?
Mr. BREWER. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Anything else you can think of?
Mr. BREWER. No.
Mr. BELIN. Please thank Hardy's Shoe Store for us for letting you take
the time to be here. We thank you very much.
Mr. BREWER. Okay.