The testimony of Welcome Eugene Barnett was taken at 3:50 p.m., on July
23, 1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Wesley J. Liebeler,
assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. LIEBELER. Before you sit down, will you raise your right hand? Do
you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. BARNETT. I do.
Mr. LIEBELER. Please sit down. My name is Wesley J. Liebeler. I am an
attorney for the President's Commission investigating the assassination
of President Kennedy. I have been authorized to take your testimony
by the Commission, pursuant to authority granted to it by Executive
Order 11130 dated November 29, 1963, and joint resolution of Congress
No. 137. Pursuant to the rules of the Commission governing the taking
of testimony, you are entitled to have an attorney present if you want
one, and you are entitled to 3 days' notice of the hearing. I know you
did not get the 3 days' notice because of schedule difficulties that we
had, and you were just advised of it this morning, I believe. I assume,
however, that since you are here, that you are prepared to go ahead
with your testimony without having an attorney.
Mr. BARNETT. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you state your full name for the record?
Mr. BARNETT. Welcome Eugene Barnett.
Mr. LIEBELER. When and where were you born?
Mr. BARNETT. July 12, 1932, New Hope, Tex.
Mr. LIEBELER. You are apparently a uniformed officer of the Dallas
Police Department, isn't that right?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. How long have you been in the Dallas police?
Mr. BARNETT. Eight and a half years.
Mr. LIEBELER. It is my understanding that you were assigned to the area
of Elm and Houston Streets on November 22, 1963; is that correct?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you tell us how you received instructions to go
there, when you received them, what you were told, and what happened?
Would you tell us what happened on that day, in other words?
Mr. BARNETT. We made detail around 9 o'clock. We were instructed to
be at our assignments at 10. We were given our assignments, each one
was given an assignment, and I was told to watch the crowd, watch for
people throwing stuff from the crowd at the President's party, to keep
the traffic clear, and to stop the traffic when the President came by.
Then when the President came by, I heard three shots.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, going back, you got to the area around 10 o'clock;
is that right?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Where did you go when you got there?
Mr. BARNETT. Well, there were three of us assigned to that one corner.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who were the other officers?
Mr. BARNETT. Who were the other officers?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
Mr. BARNETT. J. D. Smith, and another officer named Smith. I don't know
his initials. E. L., I believe.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you divide your duties among yourselves when you got
there, or had you been specifically instructed as to what each one was
supposed to do?
Mr. BARNETT. We divided our duties.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did you do that?
Mr. BARNETT. Well, as best I remember, we each picked a corner and got
on the corner. We were advised to stay on our corner, not to cross over
to idly talk, but to stay on the corner and keep our eyes open and be
ready.
Mr. LIEBELER. Which corner did you station yourself at? I have a
picture here of an aerial view--you can sit down--Commission Exhibit
No. 354.
Of course, you can recognize the intersection of Elm and Houston here
in the left-hand upper portion of the picture; can you not?
Mr. BARNETT. I was right here.
Mr. LIEBELER. At No. 1?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you remain there at all times from 10 o'clock until
the motorcade arrived?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes; well, of course, I was here until we got word to stop
the traffic, and I stepped out of this position here. I had to stop
traffic from Houston here and help the other officers stop it on Elm,
and stop this traffic on this small street that goes in front of the
Depository Building.
Mr. LIEBELER. When the motorcade actually came, you moved over pretty
much into Houston Street?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. To stop the traffic that was coming?
Mr. BARNETT. South on Houston Street.
Mr. LIEBELER. South on Houston Street?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes, sir; Elm Street is so wide, and I helped these
officers here stop this traffic here.
Mr. LIEBELER. We have written the No. 4 on here before and it is kind
of hard to read. You also helped to stop the traffic that was coming
down here in the area of No. 4, which would have been the traffic on
Elm Street?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes, sir; I was standing right about this position right
here.
Mr. LIEBELER. Right about No. 8?
Mr. BARNETT. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now specifically, were you given any instructions when
you left that morning when you made detail, to observe and scan the
windows of the buildings around that area?
Mr. BARNETT. No, sir; we weren't, but that is just one thing you always
do. It is understood that you have the buildings to watch.
Mr. LIEBELER. But there were no specific instructions given to any of
the officers, so far as you know, when they left that morning, about
watching the windows in the area?
Mr. BARNETT. I don't see any use in being instructed on that.