Mr. Hubert. Did you hear anyone suggest that the plan then proposed, and ultimately carried out in part, at least, should be changed so as to bypass the press, as it were?
Mr. Sorrels. No; I did not. At that time there was no way to bypass them, because they were out in the hall. As I had come to the building, I even noticed cameras down in the basement of the city hall there.
Mr. Smith. Could I interrupt just a second, sir. I may be completely wrong about this, but wasn’t there something about the time of transporting him?
Mr. Sorrels. Yes. As I understand it, some of the reporters had inquired of Chief Jesse Curry as to whether or not he was going to transport him to the county jail on the night of November 23.
Now, this is hearsay, that the reporters wanted to be relieved so they could get some sleep if he was not going to be transported that night—they would go home and get some rest.
Chief Curry himself told me that he had said something to this effect, “Go on home and get your sleep, there won’t be anything doing before 10 o’clock tomorrow morning.”
As I recall, I think the newspapers then published the fact that he would be moved at 10 o’clock in the morning, or words to that effect.
Mr. Smith. I just wanted to get the full story, because I remembered him having mentioned something about this. I do not know whether it is important.
Mr. Hubert. Well, in that connection, had you heard that the FBI had received an anonymous phone call from someone advising that an effort, by a group of men, would be made to kill Oswald?
Mr. Sorrels. I do not recall that I had heard any such report at that time. I did hear that there had been an anonymous call come into the police department that someone would try to kill him when they removed him, or words to that effect. But that, I believe, was subsequent to the time he was actually shot. I do not recall that morning of having heard anything about that. And I definitely did not hear anything about a group. I remembered something about it later on, but I never heard anything about it at that time.