20 Things You Didn't Know About JFK
13. We Know, And Have Known, Who The Umbrella Man Is (for Some Time Now)
One of the oddities occurring around Dealey Plaza that afternoon was the man in the crowd who opened a black umbrella shortly before the shots rang out - perhaps signaling the shooter that the operation was a go.
The film makes a big deal out of this, and one can understand why. It's ominous for a strange man on a bright afternoon suddenly open up an umbrella. But though it's shot to infer that the man had SOME kind of involvement, filmmaker Erroll Morris revealed the reason behind his behaviour. The man was protesting the President's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, who served as ambassador to Britain. The umbrella is a reference to former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's umbrella.
So it turns out it was just a kook protesting something obscure that occurred without any of the parties present being involved. Fight the...power?