William Seymour
 William Seymour    | |
|---|---|
 Probably William Seymour in front of Frank Sturgis in the Operation 40 photo | |
| Born | William Houston Seymour Fort Benton, Montana |
| Member of | Interpen, Operation 40 |
As a member of Operation 40, it is interesting that William Seymour has no Wikipedia page.
Career
William Seymour was the New Orleans representative of the Double-Chek Corporation, a CIA front used to recruit pilots such as Barry Seal. Researchers identify Seymour as the man said to have impersonated Lee Harvey Oswald while Oswald was out of the country.[1]
John Simkin reports that "Seymour was a member of Interpen (Intercontinental Penetration Force) that was established in 1961 by Gerry P. Hemming. Other members included Loran Hall, Roy Hargraves, Lawrence Howard, Steve Wilson, Howard K. Davis, Ed Collins, Bill Dempsey, Dick Whatley, Ramigo Arce, Ronald Augustinovich, Joe Garman, Edmund Kolby, James Arthur Lewis, Dennis Harber, Ralph Schlafter, Manuel Aguilar and Oscar Del Pinto.
This group of experienced soldiers were involved in training members of the anti-Castro groups funded by the Central Intelligence Agency in Florida in the early 1960s. When the government began to crack down on raids from Florida in 1962, Interpen set up a new training camp in New Orleans. The group carried out a series of raids on Cuba in an attempt to undermine the government of Fidel Castro. This involved a plan to create a war by simulating an attack on Guantanamo Naval Base.
On 25th September, 1963, Silvia Odio had a visit from three men who claimed they were from New Orleans. Two of the men, Leopoldo and Angelo, said they were members of the Junta Revolucionaria. The third man, Leon, was introduced as an American sympathizer who was willing to take part in the assassination of Fidel Castro. After she told them that she was unwilling to get involved in any criminal activity, the three men left.
Silvia Odio became convinced that after the assassination of John F. Kennedy that Leon was Lee Harvey Oswald. Odio gave evidence to the Warren Commission and one of its lawyers commented: "Silvia Odio was checked out thoroughly... The evidence is unanimously favorable... Odio is the most significant witness linking Oswald to the anti-Castro Cubans."
Research carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on behalf of the Warren Commission suggested that the three men were Seymour, Loran Hall and Lawrence Howard. These were all members of Interpen. Hall later claimed Leon was not Lee Harvey Oswald. Seymour also denied he visited Odio.
The author, Anthony Summers, suggests that the visit had "been a deliberate ploy to link Junta Revolucionaria, a left-wing exile group, with the assassination". However, G. Robert Blakey interviewed Seymour, Loran Hall and Lawrence Howard and claims that they did not visit Silvia Odio. Seymour told researcher, Paris Flammonde, that he had been in Miami when John F. Kennedy was killed."[2]
JFK Assassination
Richard E. Sprague claims in The Taking of America that Seymour was one of the gunmen who shot John F. Kennedy.[2]
