Note from the Chairman of COPA ExCom

A Note from the Chairman of COPA ExCom

Dear fellow citizens,

50 years have passed since the Warren Commission declared that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin in the murder of President John F. Kennedy. During those decades, independent researches, authors, medical and ballistic experts continued to expose the hard evidence that proves the official government conclusion is invalid.

We now know that:

-          No lone gunman could have killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally.

-          The official investigations were flawed and important leads never properly pursued.

-          Significant unanswered questions remain in other political assassinations, such as those of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

-          The truth remains hidden as long as the government records on these assassinations remain sealed from the public.

Some people may feel that there is no purpose in working to solve murders that date back fifty years, but we know there is no time limit on the truth and no statute of limitations in a murder case. Until we face the truth about the assassinations of our political leaders, we cannot hope to move toward a viable democracy in this country, nor prevent other such assassinations from happening. No other event has frozen more people in time, or changed the shape of the future in the same way as the assassination of President Kennedy, and we can wait no longer for a solution,  - we must act now.

The Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA) was formed following a “Call to Action” meeting in Dallas, Texas over twenty years ago. Our members are individuals who have worked for many years to uncover the truth. We are based in Washington D.C., near Congress and the Courts, the National Archives and the national and international press and we are working on behalf of everyone who questions the official and false official verdicts in these murders.

Many assassination documents and records have been kept secret from the American public, but due to the efforts of our members, many records are now being released under the JFK Assassination Records Act of 1992. These files are providing important new information about the assassination, and we still have a chance to break the case open if we can accelerate the release of the remaining sealed records and obtain the sworn, public testimony of new witnesses.

Our immediate goals are clear. We intend to:

- Work closely with the NARA and get Congress to fulfill their oversight mandate by holding public hearings and ensure the full disclosure of the remaining sealed records;

- Analyze the new records and educate the American people about who murdered their leaders, who covered up the conspiracies to kill them, and why;

- Correct the media spin that says there is nothing new in these records- Initiate a similar process to release the records in other assassinations, especially the HSCA MLK files that remain sealed and weren’t covered by the JFK Act;  Settle the outstanding questions, find the historic truth and seek justice.

We want to live in a country where these sort of murders will not go unpunished, and where the democratic processes cannot be frustrated by individuals, agencies or organizations who oppose the popular will and violate the Constitution.

COPA has served as a Congressional and media watchdog, and is working to release all the records and solve the mysteries surrounding these murders. To meet our goals, time is of the essence and we need your help.

We are co-sponsoring a national conference and symposium in Washington D.C. in September on the 50^th anniversary of the release of the Warren Report, that will include presentations of selected research papers on various aspects of the assassination of President Kennedy, and we expect to have national and international media coverage of this unique event.

Recent polls show that 85% of the American people agree with us about the evidence of conspiracy in this case and the need to release all of the remaining withheld records. They know they have never been told the full story by the official investigations. We need your help to reach them and to let them know that something can and must be done. Help us reveal the truth and tell the American public that there is something new in these files and something can be done about it.

This is your organization. Working together we can make a difference now.  There is an organization that supports the latest research, uses grassroots outreach and social media, is lobbying Congress for oversight hearings, using the courts to free secret files and is forcing the rule of law in political assassinations.

We need to address these unresolved political assassinations today in order to prevent political assassinations from happening in the future.

We look forward to hearing from you, 

Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D.

Chairman, Executive Committee COPA