Thomas Nelms Downing Biography

Downing publicly raised the possibility that anti-Castro Cuban individuals warranted renewed scrutiny in a congressional assassination investigation.

Downing became a leading congressional advocate for reopening the Kennedy assassination investigation and examining unresolved conspiracy questions.

Downing is appointed the First chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. First chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations

Downing said that he was skeptical that Lee Harvey Oswald could accurately fire a bolt-action rifle within a short span of time

Downing said that their statements raised the possibility that right-wing Cubans killed Kennedy.

He pushed for a House committee to investigate the assassination nearly two years before its formation.

Kennedy assassination and the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination, Downing is the first Chairman. Downing stated before and after the HSCA's investigation that he believed there was a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations concludes that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, probably as a result of a conspiracy. Established in 1976 to investigate the John F.

and he believed video footage of the assassination showed that Kennedy was struck from the front and the rear.

Becomes first chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Sponsors the House resolution creating the assassination investigation committee.

The House established the Select Committee on Assassinations after sustained congressional pressure for a new inquiry, including efforts led by Downing.