Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.
Background
The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, now the site of the National Civil Rights MuseumIn March 1968, Reverend King went to Memphis, Tennessee in support of striking African American sanitation workers. The workers had staged a walkout on February 11, 1968, to protest unequal wages and working conditions. At the time, the city of Memphis paid black workers lower wages than whites; in addition, unlike their white counterparts, blacks received no pay when they were sent home due to inclement weather.[1][2][3]
On April 3, King returned to Memphis and addressed a rally, delivering his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at the Mason Temple (World Headquarters of the Church of God in Christ). King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane.[4] In the close of the last speech of his career, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:
And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.[5]
King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis. Reverend Ralph Abernathy, King's close friend and colleague who was present at the assassination, swore under oath to the HSCA that King and his entourage stayed at room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often it was known as the "King-Abernathy Suite."[6]
Assassination
While standing on the motel's 2nd floor balcony, King was shot at 6:01 p.m. April 4, 1968. The bullet traveled through his right cheek smashing his jaw and then going down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder.[7] According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's last words on the balcony were to musician Ben Branch (no relation to Taylor Branch) who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play Take My Hand, Precious Lord in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."[8] Abernathy was inside the motel room, heard the shot and ran to the balcony to find King on the ground. Local Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles, whose house King was to visit before he was shot, remembers that upon seeing King go down he ran into a hotel room to call an ambulance. However, no one was on the switchboard so he ran back out and yelled to the police to get one on their radios. It was later revealed that no one was at the switchboard because the hotel switchboard operator, upon seeing King shot, had suffered a fatal heart attack.[9] King was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m.
Immediate effects
The assassination led to a nationwide wave of riots in more than 60 cities.[10] Five days later, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a national day of mourning for the lost civil rights leader. A crowd of 300,000 attended his funeral that same day. Vice President Hubert Humphrey attended on behalf of Lyndon B. Johnson, who was at a meeting on the Vietnam War at Camp David. (There were fears that Johnson might be hit with protests and abuses over the war if he attended.) At his widow's request, King eulogized himself: His last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a recording of his famous 'Drum Major' sermon, given on February 4, 1968, was played at the funeral. In that sermon he makes a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to "feed the hungry", "clothe the naked", "be right on the [Vietnam] war question", and "love and serve humanity". Per King's request, his good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at his funeral.
According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though he was only 39 years old, he had the heart of a 60 year old man, indicative of the huge toll the 13 years in the civil rights movement had on him.[11]
After the assassination, the city of Memphis quickly settled the strike, on favorable terms to the sanitation workers.[12][13]
Capture and trial of Ray
Two months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom for Angola, Rhodesia, or South Africa[14] on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder, confessing to the assassination on March 10, 1969 (though he recanted this confession three days later). On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray took a guilty plea to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. Ray was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.
Ray fired Foreman as his attorney (from then on derisively calling him "Percy Fourflusher") claiming that a man he met in Montreal, Canada with the alias "Raoul" was involved, as was his brother Johnny, but not himself, further asserting that although he did not "personally shoot King," he may have been "partially responsible without knowing it," hinting at a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting (unsuccessfully) to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.
Escape
Ray and seven other convicts escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee on June 10, 1977. They were recaptured on June 13, of the same year, and returned to prison.[15] One more year was added to his previous sentence to total 100 years. Shortly after, Ray testified that he did not shoot King to the House Select Committee on Assassinations.
Retrial
In 1997 Martin Luther King's son Dexter King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a retrial. Loyd Jowers, a restaurant owner in Memphis, was brought to civil court and sued as being part of a conspiracy to murder Martin Luther King; Jowers was found liable, and the King family was awarded $100 in restitution to show that they were not pursuing the case for financial gain.
Dr. William Pepper remained James Earl Ray's attorney until Ray's death and then carried on, on behalf of the King family. The King family does not believe Ray had anything to do with the murder of Martin Luther King.[16]
Ray died in prison on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70 from complications related to kidney disease, caused by hepatitis C probably contracted as a result of a blood transfusion given after a stabbing while at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. It was also confirmed in the autopsy that he died of liver failure.
Allegations of conspiracy
Some have speculated that Ray had been used as a "patsy" similar to the way that alleged John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was supposed to have been. Some of the claims used to support this assertion are:
Ray's confession was given under pressure, and he had been threatened with death penalty.[17][18]
Ray was a thief and burglar and had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon.[19]
Many suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point out the two separate ballistic tests conducted on the Remington Gamemaster had neither conclusively proved Ray had been the killer nor that it had even been the murder weapon.[20][21] Moreover, witnesses surrounding King at the moment of his death say the shot came from another location, from behind thick shrubbery near the rooming house, and not from the rooming house shrubbery.[22]
Martin Luther King's tomb, located on the grounds of the King Center
Martin Luther King's & Coretta Scott King's tomb, located on the grounds of the King Center
[edit] Recent developments
In 1997, Martin Luther King's son Dexter King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a retrial.[23]
In 1999, Coretta Scott King, King's widow, along with the rest of King's family, won a wrongful death civil trial against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found Jowers liable and that "governmental agencies were parties" to the assassination plot.[24] William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.[25][26][27]
King biographer David Garrow disagrees with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. He is supported by King assassination author Gerald Posner.[28]
In 2000, the Department of Justice completed the investigation about Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support the allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommends no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented.[29]
On April 6, 2002, the New York Times reported a church minister, Rev. Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way."[30]
In 2004, Jesse Jackson, who was with King at the time of his death, noted:
The fact is there were saboteurs to disrupt the march. [And] within our own organization, we found a very key person who was on the government payroll. So infiltration within, saboteurs from without and the press attacks. …I will never believe that James Earl Ray had the motive, the money and the mobility to have done it himself. Our government was very involved in setting the stage for and I think the escape route for James Earl Ray.[31][32]
References
^ 1,300 Members Participate in Memphis Garbage Strike. AFSCME (February , 1968). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ Memphis Strikers Stand Firm. AFSCME (March , 1968). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ Rugaber, Walter. "A Negro is Killed in Memphis", The New York Times, March 29, 1968. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ The Worst Week of 1968 Newsweek The Boomer Files Newsweek.com
^ "I've Been to the Mountaintop"
^ United States Department of Justice Investigation of Recent Allegations Regarding the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr - VII. KING V. JOWERS CONSPIRACY ALLEGATIONS (HTML). United States Department of Justice (June 2000). Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (HTML). Christian History Institute (March, 2007.). Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Branch, Taylor (2006). At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68 (America in the King Years). Simon & Schuster, page 766. ISBN 0684857138.
^ Lucas, Dean (February 11, 2007). Famous Pictures Magazine - Martin Luther King Jr Killed (HTML). Famous Pictures Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ "1968: Martin Luther King shot dead", On this Day, BBC, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ American Experience Citizen King Transcript PBS
^ AFSCME Wins in Memphis. AFSCME (April , 1968). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike Chronology. AFSCME (1968). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Gb2AwFMso9UC&pg=PA296&lpg=PA296&dq=%22james+earl+ray%22+angola+rhodesia&source=web&ots=PXCtNMafRF&sig=iBF3veEDQIZMCWWWbiJBP7MBA68&hl=en
^ FIELD OFFICE ESTABLISHED Knoxville Field Office, FBI
^ KING FAMILY STATEMENT ON THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT "LIMITED INVESTIGATION" OF THE MLK ASSASSINATION The King Center
^ James Earl Ray Profile. africanaonline.com (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ The Martin Luther King Assassination. the Real History Archives (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ "From small-time criminal to notorious assassin", US news, CNN, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ "James Earl Ray Dead At 70", CBS, April 23, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ "Questions left hanging by James Earl Ray's death", BBC, April 23, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ Martin Luther King - Sniper in the Shrubbery?. africanaonline.com (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ "James Earl Ray, convicted King assassin, dies", US news, CNN, April 23, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ Trial Transcript Volume XIV. verdict. The King Center (2006). Retrieved on 2007-03-24.
^ Text of the King family's suit against Loyd Jowers and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "unknown" conspirators. Court TV (1999). Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ Pepper, Bill (April 7, 2002). William F. Pepper on the MLK Conspiracy Trial. Rat Haus Reality Press. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ Trial Information. Complete Transcript of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination Conspiracy Trial. The King Center (2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ Ayton, Mel (February 28, 2005). Book review A Racial Crime: The Assassination of MLK. History News Network. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
^ USDOJ Investigation of Recent Allegations Regarding the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Overview. USDOJ (June 2000). Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
^ Canedy, Dana. "My father killed King, says pastor, 34 years on", The Sydney Morning Herald, April 6 2002. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
^ Goodman, Amy; Juan Gonzalez. "Jesse Jackson On "Mad Dean Disease," the 2000 Elections and Martin Luther King", Democracy Now!, January 15, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
^ According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's friend and colleague, James Bevel, put it more bluntly: "[T]here is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man." At Canaan's Edge, Simon & Schuster (2006), Hardcover, ISBN 978-0-684-85712-1, p. 770.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.
Background
The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, now the site of the National Civil Rights MuseumIn March 1968, Reverend King went to Memphis, Tennessee in support of striking African American sanitation workers. The workers had staged a walkout on February 11, 1968, to protest unequal wages and working conditions. At the time, the city of Memphis paid black workers lower wages than whites; in addition, unlike their white counterparts, blacks received no pay when they were sent home due to inclement weather.[1][2][3]
On April 3, King returned to Memphis and addressed a rally, delivering his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at the Mason Temple (World Headquarters of the Church of God in Christ). King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane.[4] In the close of the last speech of his career, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:
And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.[5]
King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis. Reverend Ralph Abernathy, King's close friend and colleague who was present at the assassination, swore under oath to the HSCA that King and his entourage stayed at room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often it was known as the "King-Abernathy Suite."[6]
Assassination
While standing on the motel's 2nd floor balcony, King was shot at 6:01 p.m. April 4, 1968. The bullet traveled through his right cheek smashing his jaw and then going down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder.[7] According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's last words on the balcony were to musician Ben Branch (no relation to Taylor Branch) who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play Take My Hand, Precious Lord in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."[8] Abernathy was inside the motel room, heard the shot and ran to the balcony to find King on the ground. Local Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles, whose house King was to visit before he was shot, remembers that upon seeing King go down he ran into a hotel room to call an ambulance. However, no one was on the switchboard so he ran back out and yelled to the police to get one on their radios. It was later revealed that no one was at the switchboard because the hotel switchboard operator, upon seeing King shot, had suffered a fatal heart attack.[9] King was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m.
Immediate effects
The assassination led to a nationwide wave of riots in more than 60 cities.[10] Five days later, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a national day of mourning for the lost civil rights leader. A crowd of 300,000 attended his funeral that same day. Vice President Hubert Humphrey attended on behalf of Lyndon B. Johnson, who was at a meeting on the Vietnam War at Camp David. (There were fears that Johnson might be hit with protests and abuses over the war if he attended.) At his widow's request, King eulogized himself: His last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a recording of his famous 'Drum Major' sermon, given on February 4, 1968, was played at the funeral. In that sermon he makes a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to "feed the hungry", "clothe the naked", "be right on the [Vietnam] war question", and "love and serve humanity". Per King's request, his good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at his funeral.
According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though he was only 39 years old, he had the heart of a 60 year old man, indicative of the huge toll the 13 years in the civil rights movement had on him.[11]
After the assassination, the city of Memphis quickly settled the strike, on favorable terms to the sanitation workers.[12][13]
Capture and trial of Ray
Two months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom for Angola, Rhodesia, or South Africa[14] on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder, confessing to the assassination on March 10, 1969 (though he recanted this confession three days later). On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray took a guilty plea to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. Ray was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.
Ray fired Foreman as his attorney (from then on derisively calling him "Percy Fourflusher") claiming that a man he met in Montreal, Canada with the alias "Raoul" was involved, as was his brother Johnny, but not himself, further asserting that although he did not "personally shoot King," he may have been "partially responsible without knowing it," hinting at a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting (unsuccessfully) to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.
Escape
Ray and seven other convicts escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee on June 10, 1977. They were recaptured on June 13, of the same year, and returned to prison.[15] One more year was added to his previous sentence to total 100 years. Shortly after, Ray testified that he did not shoot King to the House Select Committee on Assassinations.
Retrial
In 1997 Martin Luther King's son Dexter King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a retrial. Loyd Jowers, a restaurant owner in Memphis, was brought to civil court and sued as being part of a conspiracy to murder Martin Luther King; Jowers was found liable, and the King family was awarded $100 in restitution to show that they were not pursuing the case for financial gain.
Dr. William Pepper remained James Earl Ray's attorney until Ray's death and then carried on, on behalf of the King family. The King family does not believe Ray had anything to do with the murder of Martin Luther King.[16]
Ray died in prison on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70 from complications related to kidney disease, caused by hepatitis C probably contracted as a result of a blood transfusion given after a stabbing while at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. It was also confirmed in the autopsy that he died of liver failure.
Allegations of conspiracy
Some have speculated that Ray had been used as a "patsy" similar to the way that alleged John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was supposed to have been. Some of the claims used to support this assertion are:
Ray's confession was given under pressure, and he had been threatened with death penalty.[17][18]
Ray was a thief and burglar and had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon.[19]
Many suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point out the two separate ballistic tests conducted on the Remington Gamemaster had neither conclusively proved Ray had been the killer nor that it had even been the murder weapon.[20][21] Moreover, witnesses surrounding King at the moment of his death say the shot came from another location, from behind thick shrubbery near the rooming house, and not from the rooming house shrubbery.[22]
Martin Luther King's tomb, located on the grounds of the King Center
Martin Luther King's & Coretta Scott King's tomb, located on the grounds of the King Center
[edit] Recent developments
In 1997, Martin Luther King's son Dexter King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a retrial.[23]
In 1999, Coretta Scott King, King's widow, along with the rest of King's family, won a wrongful death civil trial against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found Jowers liable and that "governmental agencies were parties" to the assassination plot.[24] William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.[25][26][27]
King biographer David Garrow disagrees with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. He is supported by King assassination author Gerald Posner.[28]
In 2000, the Department of Justice completed the investigation about Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support the allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommends no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented.[29]
On April 6, 2002, the New York Times reported a church minister, Rev. Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way."[30]
In 2004, Jesse Jackson, who was with King at the time of his death, noted:
The fact is there were saboteurs to disrupt the march. [And] within our own organization, we found a very key person who was on the government payroll. So infiltration within, saboteurs from without and the press attacks. …I will never believe that James Earl Ray had the motive, the money and the mobility to have done it himself. Our government was very involved in setting the stage for and I think the escape route for James Earl Ray.[31][32]
References
^ 1,300 Members Participate in Memphis Garbage Strike. AFSCME (February , 1968). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ Memphis Strikers Stand Firm. AFSCME (March , 1968). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ Rugaber, Walter. "A Negro is Killed in Memphis", The New York Times, March 29, 1968. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ The Worst Week of 1968 Newsweek The Boomer Files Newsweek.com
^ "I've Been to the Mountaintop"
^ United States Department of Justice Investigation of Recent Allegations Regarding the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr - VII. KING V. JOWERS CONSPIRACY ALLEGATIONS (HTML). United States Department of Justice (June 2000). Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (HTML). Christian History Institute (March, 2007.). Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Branch, Taylor (2006). At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68 (America in the King Years). Simon & Schuster, page 766. ISBN 0684857138.
^ Lucas, Dean (February 11, 2007). Famous Pictures Magazine - Martin Luther King Jr Killed (HTML). Famous Pictures Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ "1968: Martin Luther King shot dead", On this Day, BBC, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ American Experience Citizen King Transcript PBS
^ AFSCME Wins in Memphis. AFSCME (April , 1968). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike Chronology. AFSCME (1968). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Gb2AwFMso9UC&pg=PA296&lpg=PA296&dq=%22james+earl+ray%22+angola+rhodesia&source=web&ots=PXCtNMafRF&sig=iBF3veEDQIZMCWWWbiJBP7MBA68&hl=en
^ FIELD OFFICE ESTABLISHED Knoxville Field Office, FBI
^ KING FAMILY STATEMENT ON THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT "LIMITED INVESTIGATION" OF THE MLK ASSASSINATION The King Center
^ James Earl Ray Profile. africanaonline.com (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ The Martin Luther King Assassination. the Real History Archives (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ "From small-time criminal to notorious assassin", US news, CNN, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ "James Earl Ray Dead At 70", CBS, April 23, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ "Questions left hanging by James Earl Ray's death", BBC, April 23, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ Martin Luther King - Sniper in the Shrubbery?. africanaonline.com (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
^ "James Earl Ray, convicted King assassin, dies", US news, CNN, April 23, 1998. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ Trial Transcript Volume XIV. verdict. The King Center (2006). Retrieved on 2007-03-24.
^ Text of the King family's suit against Loyd Jowers and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "unknown" conspirators. Court TV (1999). Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ Pepper, Bill (April 7, 2002). William F. Pepper on the MLK Conspiracy Trial. Rat Haus Reality Press. Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ Trial Information. Complete Transcript of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination Conspiracy Trial. The King Center (2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-17.
^ Ayton, Mel (February 28, 2005). Book review A Racial Crime: The Assassination of MLK. History News Network. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
^ USDOJ Investigation of Recent Allegations Regarding the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Overview. USDOJ (June 2000). Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
^ Canedy, Dana. "My father killed King, says pastor, 34 years on", The Sydney Morning Herald, April 6 2002. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
^ Goodman, Amy; Juan Gonzalez. "Jesse Jackson On "Mad Dean Disease," the 2000 Elections and Martin Luther King", Democracy Now!, January 15, 2004. Retrieved on 2006-09-18.
^ According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's friend and colleague, James Bevel, put it more bluntly: "[T]here is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man." At Canaan's Edge, Simon & Schuster (2006), Hardcover, ISBN 978-0-684-85712-1, p. 770.
3 comments:
the autopsy shows the bullet came from a higher angle than ray's window. this has impressed no one and will impress no one.
I don't really understand what you are getting at.
Oh wait yes I do...you're a conspiracy theorist.
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