Mr. BEATY. I am not looking over there much.
Mr. GRIFFIN. If, when you did on occasions look over there, could you
see people around the TV cameras?
Mr. BEATY. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you have any trouble distinguishing their faces?
Mr. BEATY. After the lights were on, you couldn't see nothing.
Mr. GRIFFIN. After the lights were on, you couldn't see anything over
there?
Mr. BEATY. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, do you recall whether or not Captain Jones instructed
the men that when Oswald was brought out from the jail office to where
you men were standing, that you were supposed to begin to start walking
alongside of Oswald toward the armored car?
Mr. BEATY. He told us to keep the path open, and then he changed this
detail here and pushed them all back.
Mr. GRIFFIN. If all of the members of the press were along the Main
Street ramp and were over behind, roughly behind the railing, or at
least behind the TV camera in the direction of the garage area, what
function did you people who were stationed along where you have marked
your "X," that wall that you have your "X," and up the Commerce Street
ramp, what function were you people going to have?
Mr. BEATY. I couldn't tell you. I couldn't tell you.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You certainly didn't expect that you were going to have
any trouble from newspaper people, because you were all backed up
against the wall, weren't you?
Mr. BEATY. I couldn't tell you, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, before Ruby shot Oswald, what did you do?
Mr. BEATY. When?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Before Ruby shot Oswald.
Mr. BEATY. When we first, it occurred to me at the time that--you don't
have policemen for 15 years, you don't have to sit down and draw them
a diagram to have them cover somebody, and Captain Jones said make the
way open, and it occurred to me that if we had to move around that
corner, fine. At that time there were people all around here and out in
the driveway.
Mr. GRIFFIN. At the time Captain Jones set you up, there had been
people there?
Mr. BEATY. Yes; there had.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You then displaced news people, is that right?
Mr. BEATY. No; whenever Captain Jones come back down, and I think he
had Sergeant Putnam or Dean, and he instructed them all to get back
there.
Mr. GRIFFIN. The area you are pointing to is on the opposite side from
where you were?
Mr. BEATY. That's right.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Okay.
Mr. BEATY. If you go on with your interview, I can tell you what my
opinion is why we was there.
Mr. GRIFFIN. That is what I want you to tell me, what your opinion was.
Mr. BEATY. Well, of course, the people from the press, they brought
Oswald out here, they all, Captain Jones asked them to please don't ask
him no questions, and let's get this over with as fast as we can. Those
are not his exact words, but that is what he meant. So, we all moved
back behind this line, and as they brought Oswald out to just about
the entrance to the Commerce Street and Main Street ramp right along
here----
Mr. GRIFFIN. Put a circle where Oswald was.
Mr. BEATY. The three of them were there along here.