On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. The shooter was believed to be James Earl Ray. James Earl Ray did kill Martin Luther King, because of his confession, physical evidence, and opportunity motive. Within a few days of confessing, James claimed he was innocent and starting saying how a guy named “Raoul” set him up. There wasn’t enough evidence to prove that a “Raoul” existed and had shot Martin Luther King Jr, which is why James was still charged guilty. He had bought a gun previously and went back to exchange it. For that reason, he had looked even more sketchy and guilty. “But within a few days of confessing, Ray began to claim his innocence, arguing …show more content…
James previous felonies did not help with convincing them of his story. “..a career criminal who’d been convicted at least four separate times for robbing a cafe, a taxi, a post office, and a grocery store.” With his bad record, it didn’t suit him at all for him to say that he is innocent. These previous felonies were not good at all for backing up his story. With this being said, James didn’t have proof that he wasn’t the killer but never stopped trying to prove otherwise. James even had Martin Luther King’s son support Ray’s claim of innocence during a televised prison encounter. Even with that, they refused to reopen up the case and Ray ended up dying on April 23, 1998. People also believed that James wanted “an-all white America.” James was also arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport trying to flee. Martin Luther King’s widow wife had said in a press conference before, “There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy … The Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband … Mr Ray was set up to take the blame.” She believed this until the day she died in 2006. After James escape from prison, he had robbed a
Ray was transported to Lea County Correctional Facility on May 28, 2002 to be questioned by state policed, but died of a heart attack before the interrogation took place. He was only pled guilty of kidnapping and
James’s psychiatrist said he was sane at the time and was sane enough to go to for trial for the terrible crime he had done. Although James is sane he does have a mental disorder, which caused him to even think about doing a crime like this. “Brilliant and gifted John Nash, portrayed in A Beautiful Mind, also diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, won a Nobel Peace Prize while ill. One thing is clear: it is possible to be very
James Earl Ray arguably became one of the most infamous murderers of the 20th century when he murdered Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN. On March 10, 1969, Ray pleads guilty to murder and receives a 99 year sentence, cementing his name in history. The murder of Dr. King sparked riots and protests across the nation, and some argue set back the civil rights movement with the loss of one of the movement’s most notable figures. Three days after the guilty plea, Ray wrote the judge for a new trial professing his innocence (PBS, 2010). The years following and several lawyers later, Ray never got another day in court, but maintained his innocence.
On March 10, 1969, Ray pled guilty to assassinating Dr. King and he was sentenced to ninety nine years in prison. There were no testimonies heard in his trial. It was not long after the trial that Ray recanted his confession; he said that he was the victim of a large conspiracy. Ray did later find sympathy in a place that would not seem likely, the members of King’s family.
(Nix 2015) Through his entire career James eluded the lawmen, and avoided capture. He had been shot and injured minorly on a few occasions, however he was never captured by the law. Nix says James even avoided captured by the Pinkerton’s who were experts on capturing train robbers (2015). The crew was called in by Abraham Lincoln.
No one really knew who was responsible for the shooting. Kennedy, being the president, had many enemies.
Years later through DNA testing, it was confirmed that Ronald Cotton was innocent and Bobby Poole was the man who committed the crime. How could Thompson, the perfect witness, be so wrong? The argument that Thompson is trying to make through
Martin Luther King Jr Martin Luther King Jr was the man to lead the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid 1950’s to 1968 when he was assassinated. “His leadership was fundamental to that movement’s success in ending the legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States”. Martin Luther King Jr was apart of a very religious family. His grandfather was a rural minister for years which formed Martin into the religious man that he was. As a child he was much smarter than the other kids but he was not able to start school until he was 6 years old.
Jane Elliott Jane Elliott is an educator and social activist from the United States. She conducted the “Blue eyes-Brown eyes” exercise the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to teach her students about discrimination and racism. Jane Elliott filmed her third trial of the experiment, turning it into a movie titled The Eye of the Storm. She still conducts the blue eye brown eye experiment around the U.S. and lectures about its effects around the world. =
A careful look at the facts known about King’s assassination would lead one to know that Martin Luther King’s assassination was not a conspiracy, it was the work of the criminal James Earl Ray. Although in the end, some may believe that James Earl Ray is innocent or that one of the conspiracies are true, this overlooks the hard facts brought up in the investigations. The lack of definitive proof or witnesses and the changing statements of the people involved leads to an unsure conclusion. The various conspiracies may hold some relevance, however, each conspiracy shows weak points that removes it from the list of plausible theories.
Malaysia Coxs Martin Luther king Jr’s assassination wasn’t justified because he was the leader of many civil rights movements, and a social activist, however others may think his assassination was just because he was too powerful. Crowds were screaming people were crying that’s the day Martin Luther King Jr, a legend died. He was one wonderful American Civil Rights leader during the 1960s. Martin was born in Atlanta Georgia in 1929. When he was fifteen he was enrolled at Moore House College.
Who would believe that Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination was unjustified? MLK was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN at 7:05. He was on the balcony when someone shot him and mortally wounded him. James Earl Ray is the one who brutally assassinated Dr. king. He killed him he was racist and a small time criminal.
The philosophy of Martin Luther King was appropriate for the Civil Rights Era. Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His family had many positive role models and was full of Christian love. He was taught by Gandhi about the nonviolent movement that freed India by British colonial rule, and King was impressed by his rule. King wanted to be a local pastor, but the week following the bus incident with Rosa Parks, he was chosen to lead a boycott that sent shock through America.
Have you ever been threatened to be killed 5 out of the 7 days of the week? Well Martin Luther King Jr. was. Martin was born January 15, 1929. 1946 The Atlanta Constitution publishes King’s letter to the editor stating that black people "are entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens. March 28 1968 King leads a march of six thousand protesters in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis.
Martin Luther King Junior was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. His legal name at birth was Michael King. According to Carson & Lewis (2016), King came from a comfortable middle-class family steeped in the tradition of the Southern black ministry. King was a Baptist minister and activist who in the mid-1950s led the civil rights movement.