Editing Jack Ruby (section)

===Warren Commission===
The [[Warren Commission]] found no evidence linking Ruby's killing of Oswald with any broader conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy.<ref name="WCR-C6"/> The [[Warren Commission Report]] provided a detailed biography of Ruby's life and activities to help ascertain whether he was involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy.{{sfn|Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Appendix 16|1964|p=779}} The Warren Commission also investigated rumors that Ruby and Oswald knew each other and that Oswald was seen at Ruby's Carousel Club. Television footage showed Oswald briefly glancing in Ruby's direction as Ruby emerged to shoot him, thought by some to be a look of recognition, which compounded suspicions. Analysis of the footage indicates that Oswald may have been looking at reporter [[Ike Pappas]] who had held his microphone out toward Oswald and who asked, "Do you have anything to say in your defense?"<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-jfk-videographer-idUSBRE9AH0UM20131118/|title=Oswald in lens, Ruby at his shoulder as Texas cameraman filmed history|newspaper=Reuters|date=November 20, 2023|via=www.reuters.com|access-date=November 20, 2023|archive-date=November 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120212009/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-jfk-videographer-idUSBRE9AH0UM20131118/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Warren Commission concluded that various witnesses linking Ruby and Oswald lacked credibility and that there was no solid evidence to link the two men.{{sfn|Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Appendix 13| 1964| pp=697, 699}}<ref name="WCR-A13">{{cite book |title=Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/ |year=1964 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=697, 699 |chapter=Chapter 6: Investigation of Possible Conspiracy |chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-6.html#acquainted |ref={{harvid|Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Appendix 13|1964}} |access-date=December 11, 2016 |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408112649/https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report |url-status=live }}</ref> The Commission indicated that there was not a "significant link between Ruby and [[organized crime]]"{{sfn|Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Appendix 16|1964|p=801}} and said Ruby acted independently in killing Oswald.<ref>{{cite news |title=Commission Says Ruby Acted Alone in Slaying |first=John D. |last=Pomfret |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 28, 1964 |page=17}}</ref><ref name="WCR-C6">{{cite book |title=Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/ |year=1964 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |chapter=Chapter 6: Investigation of Possible Conspiracy |chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-6.html |access-date=December 11, 2016 |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408112649/https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Warren Commission noted testimoy indicating Ruby entered the basement of the headquarters just as Oswald was being transferred, and that Ruby's shooting of Oswald was a spontaneous, unplanned act. Ruby drove into town with his pet [[dachshund]] Sheba to send an emergency money order at the Western Union on Main Street to one of his employees. The time stamp was 11:17 a.m. for the transaction. Ruby then walked half a block to the Dallas police headquarters, where he made his way into the basement. Warren Commission investigator [[David Belin]] said that postal inspector Harry Holmes arrived unannounced at the Dallas police station on the morning that Ruby shot Oswald and, upon invitation by the investigators, had questioned Oswald, thus delaying his transfer by half an hour.<ref name="Belin">{{cite news |last=Munns |first=Roger |date=December 15, 1991 |title=Warren panel's counsel: Stone's 'JFK' film a 'big lie' |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19911215&id=O14PAAAAIBAJ&pg=6974,4614754 |newspaper=The Bulletin |location=Bend, Oregon |agency=AP |page=A12 |access-date=December 21, 2014 |archive-date=February 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211200353/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19911215&id=O14PAAAAIBAJ&pg=6974%2C4614754 |url-status=live }}</ref> Belin noted that, had Ruby been part of a conspiracy, he would have been downtown 30 minutes earlier, when Oswald had been scheduled to be transferred.<ref name="Belin"/> The Commission accepted Ruby's claim that he entered the police basement via the Main Street ramp.<ref name="WCR-C5">{{cite book |title=Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/ |year=1964 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=219–222 |chapter=Chapter 5: Detention and Death of Oswald |chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-5.html |access-date=December 11, 2016 |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408112649/https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report |url-status=live }}</ref> Author [[Norman Mailer]] and others have questioned why Ruby would have left his beloved dog in his car if his killing of Oswald had been planned.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery|url=https://archive.org/details/oswaldstaleameri00mail|url-access=registration| year= 1995 |publisher= Random House| first= Norman |last=Mailer|isbn=9780679425359}}</ref>

Some of Ruby's friends, relatives (notably his brother Earl and sister Eva) and associates, supported the official conclusion that Ruby acted alone, maintaining that he was upset over President Kennedy's death, even crying on occasions and closing his clubs for three days as a mark of respect.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-04-04-9201310078-story.html |title=Ruby's Brother Upset Over Film |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=April 4, 1992 |access-date=November 17, 2023 |archive-date=November 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115225305/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-04-04-9201310078-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/16/archives/sister-declares-she-is-certain-ruby-was-insane.html|title=Sister Declares She Is Certain Ruby Was Insane|work=The New York Times|date=February 16, 1964|via=NYTimes.com|access-date=November 15, 2023|archive-date=November 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115225303/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/16/archives/sister-declares-she-is-certain-ruby-was-insane.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name= "Posner Case Closed" /><ref>Rogers, Phil. Jack Ruby “Thought He Was Going to Be a Hero,” Niece Says ''NBCChicago.com'' November 19, 2013. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/jack-rubys-relatives-talk-for-first-time/2047708/ Retrieved January 25, 2025</ref> They rejected conspiracy theorists' claims, saying that Ruby's connection with gangsters was minimal at most and that he was not the sort of person who would be entrusted to be part of a conspiracy.<ref name= "Posner Case Closed" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Jew who killed JFK's killer|url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-jew-who-killed-jfks-killer/|access-date=November 15, 2021|website=blogs.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US|archive-date=November 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115123531/https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-jew-who-killed-jfks-killer/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dallas reporter Tony Zoppi, who knew Ruby well, claimed that one "would have to be crazy" to entrust Ruby with anything as important as a high-level plot to kill Kennedy since he "couldn't keep a secret for five minutes ... Jack was one of the most talkative guys you would ever meet. He'd be the worst fellow in the world to be part of a conspiracy, because he just plain talked too much."<ref name="Posner Case Closed" /> He and others described Ruby as the sort who enjoyed being at "the center of attention", trying to make friends with people and being more of a nuisance.<ref name="Posner Case Closed" />

Some writers, including former Los Angeles District Attorney [[Vincent Bugliosi]], dismiss Ruby's connections to organized crime as being highly minimal: "It is very noteworthy that without exception, not one of these conspiracy theorists knew or had ever met Jack Ruby. Without our even resorting to his family and roommate, all of whom think the suggestion of Ruby being connected to the mob is ridiculous, those who knew him, unanimously and without exception, think the notion of his being connected to the Mafia, and then killing Oswald for them, is nothing short of laughable."<ref>[[Vincent Bugliosi|Bugliosi, Vincent]], ''Reclaiming History: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy'' p. 1130.</ref>

Bill Alexander, who prosecuted Ruby for Oswald's murder, equally rejected any suggestions that Ruby was involved with organized crime, claiming that conspiracy theorists based it on the claim that "A knew B, and Ruby knew B back in 1950, so he must have known A, and that must be the link to the conspiracy."<ref name="Posner Case Closed">{{cite book|title=Case Closed| last= Posner| first= Gerald |publisher=Warner Books|year=1993|author-link=Gerald Posner}}</ref>

Ruby's brother Earl denied allegations that Jack was involved in racketeering at Chicago nightclubs, and author Gerald Posner suggested in his book ''Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK'', that witnesses may have confused Ruby with Harry Rubenstein, a convicted Chicago felon.<ref name="Posner Case Closed" /> Zoppi was also dismissive of mob ties and described Ruby as a "born loser".<ref name="Posner Case Closed" />