Fact checking the first six episodes of 11.22.63.

If you have been watching Hulu's miniseries 11.22.63 and don't know how accurate the show is, there are some things you should know about it. I'll try to bring up the facts that matter the most when it comes to the 'Oswald did it alone' theory. 

1) Jack Ruby was not a fan of John F. Kennedy in real life. 

In the first episode of the series, Jake and Bill go to a bar owned by Jack Ruby. They happen to meet him and based on the encounter you get the impression that Ruby had a positive opinion of president Kennedy - even though he did not like or vote for him.

Two days after the assassination of JFK, Ruby kills Oswald in the basement of Dallas police department. His reason for killing Oswald was that he wanted to spare Jackie Kennedy from testifying at the murder trial.

In reality though, Ruby silenced Oswald in order to keep the conspiracy from unraveling. The House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in the late 70's that Ruby killing Oswald was a conspiracy that involved Dallas police officers.

2) Oswald likely didn't try to kill General Walker.

The biggest story vehicle in the first five episodes is the question whether Oswald tried to kill General Walker. The logic is that if Oswald was behind that attempt, then he was likely behind JFK's assassination too.

The problem with this is that General Walker was a clear fascist, whereas JFK was seen as a communist. It's pretty illogical that Oswald would try to kill people that represented both 'extremes' of the political spectrum.

In addition to that, not only did Walker tell the Warren Commission that the bullet he picked up wasn't from Oswald's Mannlicher Carcano, an eyewitness also saw two people running away - which proves that if Oswald was involved, he wasn't alone.

3) George de Mohrenschildt didn't see Oswald after april 1963.

It is true that during the last visit he does joke about Oswald having something to do with the general Walker shooting. Yet, de Mohrenschildt stopped having contact with Oswald a week after the Walker incident.

I suppose the fact that de Mohrenschildt  - on the show - keeps having contact with Oswald all the way till late October 1963 was because the writers of the series wanted to keep the characters to an absolute minimum.

Not surprisingly, the moment when de Mohrenschildt tells about JFK hating communists is a complete fabrication. In real life, Oswald knew well that president Kennedy was in favor of diplomacy and wanted to have a good relationship with the Soviets.

4) Oswald had other CIA connections too.

One of the big problems with the series is that it tries to argue that Oswald had no other CIA connections than the white russian geologist de Mohrenschildt. This way it might look like there was no conspiracy to assassinate JFK.

In reality though, the list of Lee Harvey Oswald's CIA contacts is so extensive that it might even be easier to point out the people who weren't connected to CIA than those who were connected to our 'lone nut' Oswald.

Oswald had contacts like David Ferrie, Richard Case Nagell, Clay Shaw, David Atlee Phillips (aka JM/Wave's Maurice Bishop) and Ruth and Michael Paine. All these people were either CIA agents or at the very least CIA assets.

5) How Oswald got the job at the Texas School Book Depository.

In the sixth episode there's no mention of how Oswald got the job at the book depository in Dallas. All we are shown is that Oswald goes to a meeting and talks pretty good game with the boss (superintendent Roy Truly).

What makes the whole thing so interesting is that the person who actually got Oswald the job at 'sniper's nest' was Ruth Paine. She's the person that Marina Oswald was living with in the episode and who told Lee that things were going to get better.

In reality, Ruth and her husband Michael Paine's families were heavily involved with CIA activities. Ruth Paine was very likely at least a low-level participant in the conspiracy (she turned down a better job opportunity for Oswald).

6) Oswald was a terrible shot and couldn't hit targets.

Finally, possibly the worst thing about the sixth episode is the scene in which Oswald goes to the shooting range to target practice. This is when he keeps bullseyeing and shows that he's supposedly capable of killing the president.

In reality, not only was Oswald a terrible shot when he was in the marines (he used to completely miss targets), there's also no credible evidence that the 'lone nut' Oswald practiced with a rifle after getting back from Russia.

Let's also not forget the fact that not even the best rifle experts have been able to duplicate Oswald's 'achievement'. That makes it even more difficult to believe that Oswald could have killed JFK on that fateful day.