I'm skeptical of Gambino and Gallo working together because Gallo must have resented the Commission blessing Colombo as the new head of the Profaci family after Gallo (with Gambino backing) had gone after Profaci. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…

Also, if killing Colombo was about sending a message, why use an African-American shooter as well as a fictitious black liberation group (that was easily proved to be fake)? To me, it seems like the cover for the shooting was put together pretty haphazardly, indicating a shoot-from-the-hip Gallo operation rather than a well-organized Gambino ploy.

I'm also not totally opposed to the notion of Johnson working alone, although his motive could be anything and everything. But I'm partial to the notion that he preferred going out as the killer of a Mafia boss than continuing living as a nobody bottom-feeder.