Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

 

       Many great leaders in our country and around the world have been assassinated due to their views.  We have seen several presidents assassinated and many leaders who stood for change.  Although a man was sent to prison for the death of Martin Luther King, controversy remains about his murder.  One thing we can say for sure is that Martin Luther King's death was a tragedy to us all and the world lost an amazing man who did much to bring us together as a people.    

     On March 29, 1968, Martin Luther King went to Memphis, Tennessee to support the black sanitary public works employees that were represented by AFSCME Local 1733, who had been on strike since March 12 to obtain higher wages and better treatment.  One example of their poor treatment is when the black street repairmen received pay for only two hours when they were sent home due to bad weather, yet the white employees were paid for the entire day.  On April 3, Martin Luther King addressed a rally and gave his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address at Mason Temple, which is the World Headquarters of the Church of God in Christ.  His flight to Memphis had been delayed because of a bomb threat against the plane he was in.  King rented room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.  King had stayed in this same room often before.  King was shot at 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968 while standing on the motel’s second floor balcony.  The bullet entered his body through his right cheek, smashing his jaw.  It then traveled down his spinal cord before it lodged in his shoulder.  Apparently, Martin’s last words were to musician Ben Branch, who was supposed to perform that night at an event that King was supposed to attend.  He said, “Ben, make sure you play “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” in the meeting tonight.  Play it real pretty.”  When the shot rang out, Abernathy heard it and ran to the balcony only to see King on the floor.  King had emergency surgery, but was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s Hospital at 7:05 p.m. 

     The assassination of Martin Luther King led to a wave of national riots in over 100 American cities.  The presidential nominee, Robert Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally and was informed of King’s death.  He gave a speech asking the audience to continue King’s efforts of non-violence.  April 7 was declared a day of mourning by President Lyndon B. Johnson.  At King’s funeral, his last sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church was played.  At his funeral, his good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, which was, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” 

James Earl Ray

     James Earl Ray is the man that went to jail for killing Martin Luther King Jr.  However, there is much controversy over his guilt or innocence.  Many people believe that he could not have been solely responsible if responsible at all.

     James Earl Ray was from a poor family in Alton, Illinois.  He ended school at the age of 15 and joined the army during World War II.  In 1949 he was convicted of burglary in California and in 1952 he served two years in prison for armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois.  Later in 1955, he was convicted of mail fraud.  After he committed an armed robbery in Missouri in 1959, he was sentences to 20 years due to being a habitual offender.  In 1967 he escaped prison by hiding in a truck that was transporting bread from the bakery in the prison.

          A little over two months after King was murdered, James Earl Ray was captured at London’s Heathrow Airport while he was trying to depart from the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd because it had been alleged that he had shot Martin Luther King.  Another passport he carried with him made him seem suspicious.  He was extradited to Tennessee where he was officially charged with the murder of Martin Luther King.  He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, but later recanted this confession three days later.  He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.  His attorney advised him to take a guilty plea in order to avoid a trial conviction and the death penalty.  With the death penalty he would have been electrocuted.  Ray fired his attorney later, and claimed that a man he met in Montreal named “Raoul” had been involved, and so was his brother Johnny, but not himself.  He also said that he didn’t personally shoot Dr. King, but that he may have been partially responsible without really knowing it, which hinted to others of a conspiracy.  The rest of his life was spent trying to withdraw his guilty plea and give himself the trial he never had. 

     On June 11, 1977, James Earl Ray made a second escape from prison, as he and six other convicts escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee on June 10, 1977.  On June 13, they were recaptured and returned to prison.  One more year was added to his original sentence of 99 years for his prison escape attempt. 

     In 1977, James Earl Ray met with Martin Luther King’s son Dexter, who publicly supported Ray’s attempts to obtain a retrial.  Loyd Jowers, a restaurant owner in Memphis was brought to civil court and sued for being a part of a conspiracy to murder Dr. King.  He was found legally liable and was forced to pay the King family $100 in restitution.  Dr. William Pepper, who was a friend of Martin Luther King, represented Ray in televised mock trial for the purpose of trying to get Ray the trial he never had.  He also represented the King family in a wrongful death civil trial against Loyd Jowers.  To this day, the King family does not believe that James Earl Ray had anything to do with the assassination of Martin Luther King. 

      In 1998, Ray died in prison at age 70 from complications that resulted from kidney disease caused by hepatitis C, probably contracted from a blood transfusion given to Ray after a stabbing while at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.  From the autopsy, it was learned that he died of liver failure.  James Earl Ray had seven brothers and sisters.  James Earl Ray was cremated and his ashes were flown to Ireland, his ancestor’s home country, since it was stated by his brother that James did not wish to be buried in the United States due to the way he had been treated by the government.  In 2000, an 18 month investigation was conducted by the Justice Department, who rejected allegations that conspirators had framed or aided Ray in the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., and recommended against any more investigation.

 

Martin Luther King Holiday

     It took 15 years to create the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  It was actually introduced by Congressman John Conyers, a democrat from Michigan only four days after King was assassinated in 1968.  After the bill stalled, petitions that endorsed the holiday containing six million names were submitted to Congress in hope of the holiday.  John Conyers and Representative Shirley Chisholm, a democrat from New York, resubmitted the King holiday legislation during each legislative session.  The public pressure for this holiday increased during the 1982 and 1983 civil rights marches in Washington.  In 1983, Congress passed the holiday legislation, which was then signed into law by Ronald Reagan, president.  A compromise was reached in which the holiday was moved from January 15, King’s birthday, to the third Monday in January. 

     Some states resisted celebrating this holiday.  Some opponents said that Martin Luther King was not deserving of his own holiday. Some arguments stated that the entire civil rights movement should be celebrated, rather than just one individual.  Several southern states use the day to celebrate various Confederate generals.  In 1992, Arizona finally approved the holiday.  In 1999, New Hampshire became the last state to make it a holiday, changing the name of Civil Rights Day to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

 

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