Editing Jack Ruby (section)

==John F. Kennedy assassination==
{{Main|Assassination of John F. Kennedy}}

===November 21===
The Warren Commission attempted to reconstruct Ruby's movements from November 21, 1963, through November 24. The Commission reported that he was attending to his duties as the proprietor of the Carousel Club located at 1312 1/2 Commerce St. in [[downtown Dallas]] and the Vegas Club in the city's [[Oak Lawn, Dallas|Oak Lawn district]] from the afternoon of November 21 to the early hours of November 22. A number of Dallas police officers were meeting in the office of Assistant District Attorney Ben Ellis when Ruby entered and passed out business cards advertising a performance by Jada, a stripper at the Carousel. Reportedly, Ruby introduced himself to Ellis and added: "You probably don't know me now, but you will."{{Cn|date=February 2025}}

===November 22: Assassination of Kennedy===
According to the Warren Commission, on November 22, Ruby was in the second-floor advertising offices of the ''[[The Dallas Morning News|Dallas Morning News]]'', five blocks away from the [[Texas School Book Depository]], placing weekly advertisements for his nightclubs, when he learned of the assassination around 12:45 p.m. According to witnesses, Ruby was visibly shaken. Ruby then made phone calls to his assistant at the Carousel Club and to his sister. The Commission stated that an employee of the ''Dallas Morning News'' estimated that Ruby left the newspaper's offices at 1:30 p.m., but indicated that other testimony suggested that he had left earlier. According to the Warren Commission, Ruby arrived back at the Carousel Club shortly before 1:45 p.m. to notify employees that the club would be closed that evening.

John Newnam, an employee at the newspaper's advertisement department, testified that Ruby became upset over an anti-Kennedy ad published in the ''Morning News'' that was signed by "The American Fact-Finding Committee, Bernard Weissman, Chairman." Ruby was sensitive to [[antisemitism]] and was distressed that an ad attacking the President was signed by a person with a "Jewish name." Early the next morning, Ruby noticed a political billboard featuring the text "IMPEACH EARL WARREN" in block letters. Ruby's sister Eva testified that Ruby had told her that he believed that the anti-Kennedy ad and the anti-Warren sign were connected and were a plot by a "gentile" to blame the assassination on the Jews.<ref name=posner/>

Ruby was seen in the halls of the [[Dallas Municipal Building|Dallas Police Headquarters]] on several occasions after Oswald's arrest for the murder of Dallas policeman [[J. D. Tippit]]. He was present at an arranged press conference with Oswald. Ruby later told the FBI that he had his .38 [[Colt Cobra]] revolver in his right pocket during the press conference.<ref>[http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=11647&relPageId=10 FBI Notes of Conference btwn. Ruby and FBI Hall & Clements in Dallas Jail], December 21, 1963, Warren Commission Document 1252, p. 9.</ref><ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol5/html/HSCA_Vol5_0092a.htm House Select Committee on Assassinations – Hearings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918012342/http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol5/html/HSCA_Vol5_0092a.htm |date=September 18, 2018 }}, volume 5, p. 179.</ref> Newsreel footage from [[WFAA]]-TV (Dallas) and [[NBC News|NBC]] shows that Ruby impersonated a newspaper reporter during a press conference held by District Attorney [[Henry Wade]] at Dallas Police Headquarters that night. Wade briefed reporters that Oswald was a member of the anti-Castro [[Crusade to Free Cuba Committee|Free Cuba Committee]]. Ruby was one of several people there who spoke up to correct Wade, saying, "Henry, that's the [[Fair Play for Cuba Committee]]", a pro-Castro organization.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0117a.htm Testimony of Henry Wade] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007005954/http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0117a.htm |date=October 7, 2012 }}, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 5, p. 223.</ref><ref name="aarc">[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0100a.htm Warren Commission Hearings, vol V, p. 189] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720025831/http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0100a.htm |date=July 20, 2020 }} aarclibrary.org</ref>

===November 24: Murder of Oswald===
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Murder of Lee Harvey Oswald
| image = Ruby shoots Oswald.jpg
| caption = [[Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald|Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph]] by [[Robert H. Jackson (photographer)|Robert H. Jackson]] of Ruby shooting Oswald, who is flanked by Dallas police detectives [[Jim Leavelle]] (left, tan suit) and [[L. C. Graves]] (right, black hat, face covered by Ruby)
| date = {{start date and age|1963|11|24}}
| time = 11:21 a.m.
| timezone = [[Central Time Zone|CST]]
| location = Dallas, Texas
| coordinates = 
| type = [[Murder]] by shooting
| target = Lee Harvey Oswald
| weapon = [[.38 Special|.38 caliber]] [[Colt Cobra|Colt Cobra revolver]]
| fatalities = 1 (Lee Harvey Oswald)
| perpetrator = Jack Ruby
| victim = 
| verdict = Guilty
| convictions = [[Murder (United States law)|Murder]] with [[Malice (law)|malice]]
{{Infobox event
| title = 
| child = yes
| sentence = [[Capital punishment in Texas|Death]] (overturned)
}}
}}
On November 24, at 11:21 a.m. CST, Oswald was being escorted by Dallas police detectives [[Jim Leavelle]] and [[L. C. Graves]] through the police basement to an armored car that was to take Oswald to the nearby county jail when Ruby, who was standing in a crowd of reporters, emerged with his revolver<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/68002928614/the-gun-that-killed-lee-harvey-oswald-38-colt| website= HistoricalFirearms.info| title= The Gun That Killed Lee Harvey Oswald: &nbsp;.38 Colt| access-date= July 6, 2018| archive-date= July 6, 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180706162301/http://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/68002928614/the-gun-that-killed-lee-harvey-oswald-38-colt| url-status= live}}</ref> aimed at Oswald's abdomen. Ruby passed by William Harrison, who saw the gun and began to reach his hand out.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/pdf/WH20_Harrison_Ex_5029.pdf |title=History Matters Archive - Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XX: Harrison Ex 5029 - Copy of an FBI report of an interview with William J. Harrison|publisher=History-matters.com |access-date=January 1, 2025}}</ref> Detective Billy Combest described Ruby's facial expression as that of a "determined look or grimace".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh12/pdf/WH12_Combest.pdf |title=History Matters Archive - Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XII: Detective B. H. Combest|publisher=History-matters.com |access-date=January 1, 2025}}</ref> Ruby shot Oswald at point-blank range, mortally wounding him.<ref name="autopsy">{{Cite web |date=November 24, 1963 |title=Official Autopsy Report of Lee Harvey Oswald |url=http://www.jmasland.com/cat_content.asp?contentid=108 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226182027/http://www.jmasland.com/cat_content.asp?contentid=108 |archive-date=February 26, 2019 |access-date=January 9, 2013 |website=The Nook: An Investigation of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/05/archives/witness-ascribes-malice-to-ruby-quotes-him-as-saying-he-hopes.html|title=Witness ascribes malice to Ruby; Quotes Him as Saying He Hopes Oswald Would Die|work=The New York Times|date=March 5, 1964|via=NYTimes.com|access-date=November 20, 2023|archive-date=November 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120212009/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/05/archives/witness-ascribes-malice-to-ruby-quotes-him-as-saying-he-hopes.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1964-03-13 |title=Trials: Another Day in Dallas |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,828230-2,00.html |access-date=2023-11-15 |magazine=Time |issn=0040-781X |archive-date=May 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515174812/https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,828230-2,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Combest exclaimed, "Jack, you son of a bitch!"<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 26, 1963 |title=President's Assassin Shot To Death In Jail Corridor By A Dallas Citizen; Grieving Throngs View Kennedy Bier |work=The New York Times |url=http://politics.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1124.html |access-date=May 12, 2018 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321193032/http://politics.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1124.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XX|url=https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0225a.htm|publisher=History Matters Archive|page=429|access-date=April 19, 2020|archive-date=July 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701041951/https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0225a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Immediately after the shot was fired, Graves grabbed for Ruby's gun, and Harrison grabbed Ruby's shoulder, as the armored car had rolled down the ramp at the moment Ruby emerged and slightly hit Ruby's leg almost immediately after he fired, causing him to almost lose balance as he was immediately subdued by police. Ruby and Oswald were both taken into the basement level jail office. After Ruby was handcuffed and taken up in the elevator, Oswald was placed in an ambulance and driven to [[Parkland Memorial Hospital]], the same hospital where President Kennedy was declared dead two days earlier.<ref name="Testimony Combest">{{cite journal| url= https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh12/html/WC_Vol12_0097b.htm| title= Testimony of Billy Combest| journal= Warren Commission Hearings| volume= 12| access-date= August 14, 2021| archive-date= August 14, 2021| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210814082035/https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh12/html/WC_Vol12_0097b.htm| url-status= live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/html/WH_Vol19_0091b.htm Bieberdorf Ex 5123 – Copy of an FBI report of an interview of Frederick A. Bieberdorf, dated December 6, 1963.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122201825/http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh19/html/WH_Vol19_0091b.htm |date=January 22, 2022 }}, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 19, pp. 164.</ref> 

At Parkland, surgeons subsequently determined Ruby's bullet had entered Oswald's left side in the front part of the abdomen and caused extensive damage to his spleen, stomach, aorta, [[vena cava]], kidney, liver, [[Thoracic diaphragm|diaphragm]], and eleventh rib before coming to rest on his right side.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette">{{cite news|title=Autopsy Shows Oswald Healthy; Little of History of Slayer Is Revealed|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mZ1RAAAAIBAJ&pg=1386%2C5383871|access-date=April 4, 2013|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=November 30, 1963|agency=AP|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|page=f|archive-date=July 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715233908/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mZ1RAAAAIBAJ&pg=1386,5383871|url-status=live}}</ref> Oswald died at 1:07 p.m.<ref name="Saturday2" />

====Reaction====
A network television pool camera was broadcasting live to cover Oswald's transfer; millions of people watching on [[NBC]] saw the shooting as it happened and in a matter of minutes it was on other networks.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Laurence Bergreen |last=Bergreen |first=Laurence |year=1980 |title=Look Now, Pay Later: The Rise of Network Broadcasting |url=https://archive.org/details/looknowpaylaterr00berg |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday and Company |isbn=978-0-451-61966-2}}</ref> Several photographs were taken of the event, capturing the moments when Ruby pulled the trigger. In 1964, [[Robert H. Jackson (photographer)|Robert H. Jackson]] of the ''[[Dallas Times Herald]]'' was awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for Photography]] for his image, titled ''[[Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald]]''.<ref name="Fischer">{{cite book |last1=Fischer |first1= Heinz-D |last2=Fischer |first2=Erika J. |year=2003 |chapter=Prizes for Pictorial Journalism Areas |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=w3CdrctE80IC&pg=PA206 |title=The Pulitzer Prize Archive: A History and Anthology of Award-Winning Materials in Journalism, Letters and Arts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w3CdrctE80IC |volume=17 Complete Historical Handbook of the Pulitzer Prize System 1917–2000 |location= Munich |publisher=De Gruyter |page=206 |isbn=978-3-11-093912-5}}</ref>

Great indignation was directed towards Ruby's murder of Oswald. Many felt that the killing had robbed the nation of essential information and left key questions unanswered. Former Vice President [[Richard Nixon]] said, "(Oswald was) also entitled to a trial ... two wrongs don't make a right."<ref>{{YouTube|id=XyoyNF2MbIY|title=November 24, 1963 – Richard M. Nixon interviewed following President John F. Kennedy's Assassination}}</ref> Oswald's murder compounded suspicions that the Kennedy assassination was part of a larger plot.<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Knight |title=The Kennedy Assassination |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRs2Tu714ZUC |access-date=September 4, 2013 |year=2007 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-934110-32-4 |page=76}}</ref>

Not all were shocked, however. The crowd outside the headquarters applauded when they heard that Oswald had been shot.<ref>{{harvnb|Posner|1993|page=399}}</ref> In Dallas and elsewhere in the nation, Oswald was hated in death, and Ruby was viewed as a hero by some citizens. During his time in jail, he received many letters from the public, often praising him for his actions.