(Testimony of Howard Leslie Brennan)
Mr. Brennan.
No.
Mr. Belin.
What were you wearing on November 22d? What clothes were you wearing?
Mr. Brennan.
Gray khaki work clothes, with a dark gray hard helmet.
Mr. Belin.
Your head here appears to be the highest in the group, a little bit left of center in the upper part of the picture, is that correct?
Mr. Brennan.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Belin.
Does this scene depict the scene as you recollect it on that day,
November 22d?
Mr. Brennan.
It does.
Mr. Belin.
Mr. Brennan, could you please tell the Commission what happened from the time you sat on that retaining wall, what you saw?
Mr. Brennan.
Well, I was more or less observing the crowd and the people in different building windows, including the fire escape across from the Texas Book Store on the east side of the Texas Book Store, and also the Texas Book Store Building windows. I observed quite a few people in different windows. In particular, I saw this one man on the sixth floor which left the window to my knowledge a couple of times.
Mr. Belin.
Now, you say the window on the sixth floor. What building are you referring to there?
Mr. Brennan.
That is the Texas Book Store.
Mr. Belin.
I am going to ask you to circle on Exhibit 477 the particular window that you said you saw a man leave and come back a couple of times.
Mr. Brennan.
Well, I am confused here, the way this shows. But I believe this is the sixth floor, the way those windows are built there right at the present. I am confused whether this is the same window.
Mr. Belin.
You mean because some windows are open below it?
Mr. Brennan.
No. The way the building is built, it seems like this is more or less a long window with a divider in the middle.
Mr. Belin.
Here is a marking pencil. Will you just mark the window that you believe you saw the man.
All right.
And do you want to put a letter "A", if you would, by that.
All right, now you have marked on Commission Exhibit 477 a circle with the letter "A" to show the window that you saw a man in, I believe you said, at least two times come back and forth.
Mr. Brennan.
Yes
Mr. Belin.
Did you see any other people in any other windows that you can recollect?
Mr. Brennan.
Not on that floor.
There was no other person on that floor that ever came to the window that I noticed.
There were people on the next floor down, which is the fifth floor, colored guys. In particular, I only remember two that I identified.
Mr. Belin.
Do you want to mark the window with the circle that you believe
you saw some Negro people on the fifth floor. Could you do that with this marking pencil on Exhibit 477, please?
Mr. Brennan.
The two that I identified, I believe, was in this window.
Mr. Belin.
You want to put a "B" on that one?
Now, after you saw the man--well, just tell what else you saw during that afternoon.
Mr. Brennan.
Well, as the parade came by, I watched it from a distance of Elm and Main Street, as it came on to Houston and turned the corner at Houston and Elm, going down the incline towards the railroad underpass. And after the President had passed my position, I really couldn't say how many feet or how far, a short distance I would say, I heard this crack that I positively thought was a backfire.
Mr. Belin.
You thought it was backfire?
Mr. Brennan.
Of a motorcycle.
Mr. Belin.
Then what did you observe or hear?
Mr. Brennan.
Well, then something, just right after this explosion, made me think that it was a firecracker being thrown from the Texas Book Store. And
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