(WHDH) — One of the big questions surrounding the release of thousands of files relating to JFK’s assassination is why now?
Part of the history behind the release date has its roots in Hollywood.
The assassination of Kennedy has historically been steeped in mystery and conspiracy theories. That hit a fever pitch in the early 90’s with the release of the Oliver Stone Film, “JFK”.
The movie opened 28 years after Kennedy’s death and differs drastically from the results of the Warren Commission’s lone gunman theory.
The film implicate a rogue branch of the CIA and a right wing conspiracy that JFK was about to pull the United States out of Vietnam. At the time, then Senator Ted Kennedy discounted the film.
“All the family has had the opportunity to review the Warren Commission. We’ve always been satisfied with that. I don’t see any reason to get into this other sensationalize,” Ted Kennedy had told 7News in 1991.
However, this statement did not stop conspiracy theorists. Books, articles and television shows have explored the idea that Kennedy’s assassination was the result of an elaborate conspiracy.
Following the movie, the John F. Kennedy Records Collection Act was signed in October 1992. This required federal agencies to search for records related to the assassination and transfer them to be examined by a review board. That board was confirmed in 1994.
The five member panel created a list of recommendations on exactly how to release the records.
In 2014, the National Archives began processing the millions of pages for public release.
Thousands of those files are expected to be released Thursday.
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