Reverend Raymond Broshears was a gay rights activist in San Francisco. He was also an incredible fabulist, and for a brief period of time, captured the attention of Jim Garrison. He was flown out to New Orleans and was interviewed several times. He literally told them everything!
Here are the highlights of the memo:
Broshears claims he was an "intimate friend" of David Ferrie's from late August 1965 until late 1966. This is extremely dubious - when Stephen Roy, the biographer of David Ferrie, spoke to Broshears, he found that he didn't even know the layout of Ferrie's apartment.
I am not surprised Burton wrote that "he [Broshears] sometimes injects his opinions in addition to what FERRIE told him."
Broshears tells Burton that Garrison was harassing Ferrie in 1965-1966 (Garrison's probe only started in October 1966) and that "he believes that Garrison drove FERRIE to suicide." But we know that Ferrie did not commit suicide; he died from natural causes.
Broshears responded to Shaw's supposed pseudonym of "Alton Bernard," and called him "Bernie." Of course, Alton Bernard was made up by Clyde Johnson.
Broshears says that he never met Edgar Eugene Bradley but that he was "insane" and a "liar." He also told Burton that Bradley was in Dallas on November 22, 1963, but, in fact, Bradley was in El Paso on the day JFK was assassinated.
Broshears said that Tippit was supposed to kill Oswald, and that Oswald had slept with David Ferrie.
He claimed that the Minutemen, the John Birch Society, the CIA and Lyndon Johnson were behind the assassination. Right after the assassination, Broshears alleged, a "light plane" took off from Arlington, Texas headed for Mexico, but it crashed.
Burton tended to believe him despite the fact that Broshears said that Lady Bird Johnson owned the Carousel Club.
It is indeed bewildering that Broshears was brought to New Orleans for further questioning. He held nothing back and spouted a variety of nonsense. Not surprisingly, he was not a witness at the Clay Shaw trial. You can read all of his stories in the links below.
Here is a Secret Service document about Broshears and the supposed attempt on Lyndon Johnson's life.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Raymond Broshears
Broshears revealed the plot to the LA Free Press
Lane and Jaffe pay the good Reverend a visit.
Broshears even identified the three tramps.
Of course, they had to fly Broshears to New Orleans to tell more stories.
Broshears outs a Garrison suspect.
Broshears' newsletter discusses his trip to New Orleans
Hard to believe but the HSCA actually interviewed Broshears.
For some reason, conspiracy theorists believe Broshears is credible.
James DiEugenio believes that Raymond Broshears corroborates the existence of a Leon Oswald.