The Poster Boy For Loitering & Intrigue: Part One

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....On hearing about the shooting, [Fontanini] worked his way toward the Press Room but was unable to get in as a guard was denying entrance to everyone.

At this time a man (later identified as Michael Wayne) ran out of the Press Room, holding a long paper roll in his hand. Mr. Wayne ran through the short hallway and into the main lobby.

Mr. Fontanini, thinking that this person was a suspect, ran after him. Mr. Fontanini was joined in the chase by a uniform guard, a male Negro.

Michael Wayne ran toward the Lauirelt [sic, probably Lautrec-dwd] Room Foyer. At this location, Mr. Wayne ran into a large mirror and was caught by the guard.

Mr. Fontanini took several pictures of this arrest. It was at this point that he found out that this person was Michael Wayne through I.D. found on his person.

Mr. Fontanini states that Mr. Wayne had stated he ran because he was looking for a telephone. Mr. Fontanini added that there were numerous telephones available in the Press Room where Mr. Wayne ran from.

Mr. Fontanini states that the name of the guard who arrested Wayne was a Mr. Agustas Mallard.

Mr. Fontanini left the guard and Mr. Wayne and went to the kitchen area to take pictures.......

P/R states he was a Rafferty campaign worker and arrived at the Ambassador approximately 7 p.m. P/R was assigned to the entrance of the Venetian Room to help keep out unauthorized persons. At approximately 11 p.m. or 11:30 p.m., P/R noticed four men and one girl standing between the Venetian Room and the lobby fountain. P/R states one of these men resembled Sirhan B. Sirhan. P/R did not pay attention to the group. P/R is sure that all these persons were together. At approximately 12:15 a.m., P/R was en route to the Embassy Room via the Regency Room when he heard firecrackers bursting. Immediately thereafter, P/R observed an unknown male running towards him pushing and shoving people. P/R then heard a newsman yell "stop him." P/R tackled the suspect and a security officer of the hotel helped subdue the suspect. The officer handcuffed the suspect and took him away. P/R recognized this man as one of the four [male] suspects he observed earlier in the lobby.

P/R did not recognize Sirhan's picture until he observed it in Life magazine a few weeks after the assassination. Officers showed P/R a picture of Michael Wayne, afterwhich, [sic] P/R related that this was the man he subdued. Officers also showed P/R the mug packet and he picked out the mug of Munir Sirhan [brother of Sirhan].

P/R failed to ID [Sirhan] Sirhan's mug. P/R related further that he had been interviewed previously by Fernando Faura [i.e., Fernando Farra, a Time/Life reporter-dwd].

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL L. WAYNE
1430 So. Hi-Point, L.A. 35 -- PH: WE-49851
Pickwick Bookstore, MWD Blvd.

Saw susp. being taken to ground by several males. Had gun in hand.
Can ID susp and gun. Male Latin, young, 5-8, light, blk curly hair.

This investigator received information that the business card of Keith Duane Gilbert was in the possession of Wayne, at the time of his apprehension after Sen. Kennedy was shot. Gilbert is reported to be an extremist and militant who has been involved in a dynamite theft, previously.

Michael Wayne was contacted and asked to explain his possession of the card. Wayne stated that he does not know Gilbert. He does not know how the card came into his possession, and does not remember ever having it. He cannot recall having a card from any Reloading Shop.

During the interview with Augustus Mallard (I-260) [record of which does not appear in the SUS audiotape listings-dwd] he was asked about the business card. Mr. Mallard could not remember anything about the card, and does not know if he found it or even saw it. Mallard was the Security Officer who apprehended Mr. Wayne on 6-5-68.

Mr. Wayne was brought to our attention by Mr. Charles Winner (I-239) [record of whose interview tape does not appear in the SUS audiotape listings-dwd], who stated a Michael Wayne had spoken to him in the kitchen area, prior to Sen. Kennedy being shot.

A photograph was taken of a man in handcuffs at the Ambassador Hotel. This photo was taken by Mr. Fontanini, L.A. Times. The man in the handcuffs was Mr. Wayne.

Mr. Wayne was in the kitchen when Kennedy was shot, and was the subject of reports by Patti Nelson, Tom Klein and Dennis Weaver (I-623) of a man running through the lobby with a long object in his hand, which appeared to be a rifle.

Wayne was on the 5th floor of the Hotel prior to Kennedy going down the elevator to the Embassy Room. He was attempting to obtain an autograph from Kennedy. Kennedy went down the elevator and Wayne went down in the one with the press. They arrived at the kitchen at approx. the same time. He moved through the kitchen with Kennedy, and managed to stop Kennedy at one point and get his signature on a roll of posters. After signing the poster, Kennedy moved into the Embassy Room with his party, to make his victory speech.

The poster is described as approx. 3 ft long, tightly rolled (1 1/2 in. [in diameter])

There were not too many people in the kitchen area after Kennedy left. At this time, Wayne spoke to a man, attempting to get a Humphry [sic, Hubert Humphrey] tie clasp. (Wayne collects political campaign souveniers [sic]). This man was Charles Winner (I-239).

Wayne went into the EmbassyRoom [sic] and listened to Kennedy's speech. Wayne recalls observing two women in the kitchen area prior to Kennedy entering the Embassy Room. One woman was caucasian, blond, wearing a light colored dress, and had a Kennedy Press Pass in a plastic holder, on a chain around her neck. She told him to leave the kitchen area.

The second woman he described as Fe. Latin, 5-5, heavy, dark hair, looked messed up, wearing the sash across her chest that was similar to that worn by the Kennedy girls. She was also wearing one of Edward Kennedy's tie clasps from his 1962 campaign. Black skirt.

Wayne left the Embassy Room and returned to the kitchen prior to Kennedy completing his speech. After completing his speech, Kennedy returned to the kitchen. When Kennedy entered the kitchen, Wayne was standing on the east end of the kitchen, close to the doors which lead to the lobby outside the Embassy Room. Kennedy walked toward Wayne as he walked through the kitchen.

Wayne became aware of noises, and someone stated "He's been hit." Suddenly I was aware of the shots. I turned and saw him beginning to move, and men falling on top of a man in a blue shirt. I paused, people paniced [sic, panicked], I went into the Press Room and tried to use the phones with the light on them, but was unable to get the operator.

He states people didn't know about the shooting -- He tried 4 or 5 phones -- for a few seconds. Unk [sic, Unknown] how long. He rushed out of the Press Room (Colonial Room) and through the crowd. People asked him what happened and he told them "I can't say."

When he left the Press Room he turned right, then went to the Gold Room where he talked to a Hotel Employee who didn't speak English. He couldn't locate a phone, so he walked and ran through the crowd in the lobby, to the fountain area, turned right, and went to the area of the Venetian Room where he ran up to a Security Guard (Augustus Mallard) and said "I need a telephone quickly." Mallard wanted to know why, and Wayne made a statement about Sen. Kennedy having been shot.

Mallard took Wayne into the room and placed handcuffs on him. Wayne was taken to the Hotel Security Office, and later to the Gold Room and interviewed by LAPD Personnel. He was released from custody.

Wayne states he did not have a camera, or take any pictures that night. He cannot place a woman in a polka dot dress in the kitchen.

He has not been interviewed by the FBI, Press, or District Attorney's Office.

The only person he recognized in the kitchen area was Roosevelt Grier, and people Wayne only knows by sight, not names. He was not aware of Sirhan's presence in the area prior to the shooting. He has not knowlingly [sic] seen Sirhan prior to that night.

Wayne was born in Manchester, England, entered the U.S. in 1951, naturalized in 1960. He professes to be of Jewish background, but not from the Middle East.

Michael Wayne was brought to the attention of the Los Angeles Police Department by several witnesses who place him in the kitchen area at the Ambassador Hotel at the time Senator Kennedy was shot. He was observed running out of the kitchen area after the shooting, carrying a long tubular object, resembling a rifle case.

Dennis Weaver, Tom Klein and Patti Nelson reported seeing him run across the hotel lobby just prior to [their] learning of the shooting. Harold Burba reports Wayne as being the suspect, and having a tubular object in his hand, in the kitchen area prior to the shooting.

Wayne was interviewed, and it was learned that he was in the kitchen prior to Kennedy being shot. He obtained an autograph from the senator, on the tubular shaped object, which was a rolled up campgain [sic] poster.

Wayne reports he did see the shooting, and ran out of the room, crossed the lobby, and approached a security guard by the Venetian Room, and asked to use a telephone to report the shooting of Kennedy. Wayne states the guard pushed him around a corner and handcuffed him. He did not resist, and was taken to the hotel security office.

Augustus Mallard was interviewed and stated that he was the guard who took Wayne into custody. He stated he didn't want Wayne to get away, and he didn't know about the shooting at the time he took Wayne into custody. He verified the contents of the roll as posters, stating Wayne did not have a weapon on him.

Wayne was subsequently released to Los Angeles Police Department investigators and a statement was taken prior to his release.

The LA Times has photos of Wayne being taken into custody. One witness, Patti Nelson, told the news that she had seen Wayne carrying a rifle as he ran across the lobby, and Tom Klein and Dennis Weaver corroborated this story. At subsequent interviews, each one repudiated these statements. Klein and Weaver both admitted that they did not hear Nelson make these statements, and were positive the object they saw was not a rifle. Patti Nelson stated she is not familiar with any weapon, and upon re-examination of the photographs of Wayne, in custody and carrying the tubular object, she could see the object he had was not a rifle.

Michael Wayne is a collector of political campaign souvenirs. He was busily engaged in his hobby during the evening of June 4, 1968 and it was this that brought him into the kitchen.

It was brought to our attention that Michael Wayne was in the possession of a business card of Keith Duane Gilbert, an extremist who was arrested, in the past, for the theft of dynamite.

Wayne was contacted and stated he did not remember having the card, did not know Gilbert, and cannot find the card now.

The only explanation this investigator can think of, to explain this discrepancy, is Wayne's hobby of collecting bits and pieces of things having to do with political campaigns. He traded cards and names and addresses with other witnesses, in attempts to barter for objects related to the campaign.

WAYNE was re-interviewed by investigating officers. Officers had information that Sirhan or some body [sic] resembling Sirhan was in the electrician's booth adjacent to [Max] Rafferty's headquarters at the Ambassador Hotel between 10:15 & 11:15 PM the night of the shooting. When WAYNE was questioned about being at this location, he replied that he was uncertain and did not recall.

He had spent the evening at Kennedy headquarters on Wilshire Blvd. From there he went to McCarthy headquarters at the Hilton and from there to the Ambassador Hotel. He was not sure of his times, but he estimated somewhere between 8 & 10 PM he arrived at the Ambassador. After arriving at the Hotel, he went to the Ambassador Ballroom area, from there to the Colonial Room which he entered via the main hallway. He was refused admittance to the room itself, left the room, went back into the main hall, and from there took a short corridor into the kitchen area and then entered the Colonial Room via the kitchen area. He gained admittance and managed to obtain a press button. With this button he then went to the 5th floor where he mingled with the crowd in the Kennedy suite. When the Senator left his suite to go to the Embassy Room, WAYNE followed. WAYNE recalled going down in an elevator next to the elevator used by the Senator. He went into the kitchen area and after loitering about, was asked to leave. From there he went into the main hall and then into the Embassy Room where he watched part of the [Kennedy] speech. He left the Embassy Room via the front entrance and from there entered the kitchen again through a short corridor. He placed himself in the kitchen area somewhere between the ice machines and the doors to the Colonial Room at the time the Senator entered the kitchen area. He did not see the Senator but saw the group which he assumed the Senator was a part of, entering the kitchen area. His next recollection was that of noises which were the shots from the suspect's gun. He recalled looking in the direction of the sounds and observing the rear of the suspect. He did not see the gun and could not state which hand was holding the gun. Sometime during the struggle with the suspect, he ran into the Colonial Room and picked up several telephones attempting to call for help and stated he was unable to get a line. He left the Colonial Room and was in the main lobby area by the fountain and was taken into custody by a guard as a possible suspect. He was later released. WAYNE was interviewed on 7-12-68 at 3:30 PM by Sgt. Varney, S.U.S. Unit. This interview goes into more detail regarding WAYNE's activities that evening. The purpose of the re-interview was to establish whether or not WAYNE was in the electrician's booth prior to the shooting. This could not be substantiated or denied by WAYNE.

Mr. WAYNE was questioned about his activities prior to going to the [Ambassador] hotel. He states he rode from the Kennedy Headquarters on Wilshire Blvd. to the Kennedy Headquarters in Westwood, with three people. One of the people he assumed to be a European newspaper reporter.

He thinks the woman in the car had a broken leg. The car was a Brown [sic] 1961-1963 T-Bird.

He does not know the names of the people he rode with. Just two men and one woman.

He cannot remember if he exchanged addresses and names with anyone in the car or not.