Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
| Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Martin Luther King, Jr. |
|
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Date | April 4, 1968 6:01 p.m. (Central Time) |
| Weapon(s) | Remington 760 Gamemaster |
| Perpetrator(s) | James Earl Ray |
Martin Luther King, Jr., a prominent American leader of the civil rights movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39. On June 10, 1968, James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested in London at Heathrow Airport. Ray was extradited to the United States and charged with the crime. On March 10, 1969, Ray entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee state penitentiary.[1] Ray later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful. He died in prison on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70.[2]
Civil disorder following the killing affected at least 110 U.S. cities. Washington, Chicago and Baltimore had the most damage.
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the shooting of Governor George Wallace. The Committee investigated until 1978. On the King assassination, the Committee concluded in its 1979 final report that he was killed by one rifle shot from James Earl Ray, that "there is a likelihood" that this was the result of a conspiracy, and that no U.S. government agency was part of this conspiracy probably between Ray and his brothers.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
The Lorraine Motel is now a civil rights museum.[6]
[change] References
- ↑ Pepper, William F. (2008). An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. Verso. p. 8. ISBN 9781844672851.
- ↑ Pepper, William F. (2008). An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. Verso. p. 97. ISBN 9781844672851.
- ↑ Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives (29 March 1979). Stokes, Louis Chairman, House Select Committee on Assassinations.
- ↑ "Trial Transcript Volume XIV". verdict. The King Center. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-03-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20070317211231/http://www.thekingcenter.org/tkc/trial/Volume14.html. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
- ↑ "USDOJ Investigation of Recent Allegations Regarding the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.". Overview. USDOJ. June 2000. http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/crim/mlk/part2.htm#over. Retrieved 2006-09-18.
- ↑ "National Civil Rights Museum". http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
