JFK Files Released: CIA HQ Attacked
On March 19, 2025, just hours after the Trump administration released a trove of previously classified JFK assassination files, chaos erupted at the CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, when an armed man began firing a shotgun into the air near an entry gate. The incident, which unfolded around 10:35 AM PDT, prompted an immediate lockdown of the facility and a massive response from Fairfax County Police, SWAT teams, and CIA Police, who swarmed the area, shutting down roads like Georgetown Pike and Dolly Madison Boulevard. Witnesses initially reported shots fired, though later reports clarified that the gunman discharged rounds skyward and made threats, with no immediate injuries noted. The timing of the attack, so close on the heels of the JFK files release, sparked immediate speculation on X, with some users questioning whether the event was a manufactured distraction by the CIA to divert attention from potentially damning revelations in the newly declassified documents.
The JFK files, released on March 18, 2025, as part of Trump’s directive for transparency, included over 80,000 pages that reignited long-standing conspiracy theories about the CIA’s involvement in Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. Documents revealed CIA warnings about Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities, such as his visits to Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico City, which were allegedly ignored by senior officials, alongside hints of potential ties between anti-Castro groups, organized crime, and rogue CIA operatives. The timing of the shooter’s actions at CIA headquarters fueled suspicion among skeptics, who pointed to historical allegations—like those from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has claimed “overwhelming evidence” of CIA involvement in JFK’s death—as a possible motive for the agency to stage a crisis. While the CIA has consistently denied such involvement, the incident’s proximity to the files’ release raised questions about whether it was a lone act of unrest or something more orchestrated.
This isn’t the first time the CIA headquarters has faced such a threat; in 1993, Mir Aimal Kansi killed two CIA employees in a politically motivated shooting at the same location, driven by anger over U.S. policies in the Middle East. The 2025 incident, however, carries a different weight given its context—public distrust of the CIA has been simmering for decades, amplified by the JFK conspiracy theories that refuse to die. The agency’s historical reluctance to fully disclose its actions, as seen in its limited cooperation with the Warren Commission and subsequent investigations, only deepens the skepticism. Whether the shooter was motivated by the JFK files or acting on unrelated grievances remains unclear, but the event underscores a volatile moment where historical grievances and modern tensions collide, leaving many to wonder if the full truth about the CIA’s past will ever come to light.
