George Hickey was a Secret Service agent involved in a controversial theory regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He was alleged to have accidentally fired one of the shots that killed Kennedy, but this theory has been widely discredited and lacks evidence.
George Hickey was part of the Secret Service detail assigned to protect President Kennedy during his trip to Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Following the assassination, a theory emerged, particularly popularized by the book “Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK” by Bonar Menninger, which was based on the ballistic analysis of Howard Donahue. The book suggested that Hickey, who was riding in the car behind Kennedy’s limousine, accidentally discharged his weapon when the motorcade was thrown into chaos after Lee Harvey Oswald fired the initial shots.
According to this theory, Hickey supposedly picked up an AR-15 rifle in an attempt to respond to the sniper shots but accidentally fired it while the car was moving. The theory posits that this accidental shot was the one that struck Kennedy in the head. However, this scenario has been heavily criticized by experts in ballistics and forensics, as well as by the Secret Service. There is no credible evidence to support the claim that Hickey fired his weapon, and it contradicts the findings of the Warren Commission, which concluded that Oswald was the sole gunman.
Moreover, other witnesses and Secret Service agents present that day have refuted the possibility of such an accident occurring. Hickey himself denied the allegations until his death and even filed a defamation lawsuit against the publisher of “Mortal Error,” which was settled out of court. The consensus among historians and researchers is that the theory involving George Hickey is unfounded, and the official narrative remains that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President Kennedy.