On April 4, 1968, just after 6 p.m., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside of his second story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. Dr. King was in Memphis supporting a sanitation workers’ strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet suddenly struck him in the jaw, while he was on the balcony (Day). The bullet struck him in the right jaw, severed his spine and came to rest in his shoulder blade. Approximately one hour after being shot, Dr. King was pronounced deceased at the St. Joseph Hospital at 7:05 p.m. ("The Truth About Martin Luther King Jr.'S Assassination"). Shortly following the shooting of Dr. King, a bundle was dropped near the door of Canipe’s Amusement Company, and a white Ford Mustang was seen speeding away. Memphis police officers found the bundle to obtain a .30-06 rifle, ammunition, a pair of binoculars, and several other items. The rifle was registered after purchase in Birmingham, AL to a Mr. Harvey Lowmeyer. This name was later found to be one of several aliases used by James Earl Ray (Maryferrell.org, 2017). Over the next several weeks following the assassination of Dr. King, eyewitness statements along with fingerprint evidence from the items found in the bundle, pointed towards James Earl Ray as the suspect. In May 1968, a massive manhunt began for his capture (Day). The Federal Bureau of …show more content…
Justice Department. All the investigations ended with the same conclusion: James Earl Ray assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. The House Committee acknowledged that a low-level conspiracy might have existed involving one or more accomplices to James Earl Ray, but uncovered no evidence to prove this theory. James Earl Ray died in prison in 1998
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.
James Earl Ray had made a conspiracy theory that an unknown man Roul was the mastermind of the King assassination and that Ray was a simple pawn to his plan. He led the investigators to search for the man but he was never found or identified, even with
On April 4, 1968, a 39 year old man was murdered. This man was Martin Luther King Jr. King spent much of his life fighting for equal rights for all people. Although everything he did was peaceful, he still ended up in bad situations. On 29 occasions, he was arrested.
King went to Birmingham to fight the injustice and was eventually put in jail despite his peaceful efforts. During King’s time spent in Birmingham Jail, many misconceptions and assumptions where held by white clergymen, the media, and numerous amounts of people who questioned his peaceful protests and other activities during his time in Birmingham, Alabama. This influenced him to write “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to address issues such as correcting the mistakes and misconceptions held by the people of Birmingham, Alabama along with, racial injustice, oppression, hate, and justifying the nonviolent civil disobedience presented by King and his followers. Dr. King was unfortunately assassinated on April 4, 1968, but thanks to his efforts, the ultimate goal of equality and freedom from oppression was met later that same
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination Essay Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the age of 39 on April 4th, 1968. He was a very important, if not crucial part of the ending of segregation. After his assassination, there was a massive public uproar, including various protests, burning and looting, and an overall widespread anger among African American citizens. When assassinated, he was standing on the second story balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
No other Negro leader had such a following among his own people, not even Medgar Evers, who was shot in the back on his own front door in Mississippi, or Malcolm X, who died at the hands of a fellow-Negro in New York. King's message of non-violence, his relentlessly courageous pursuit of justice, the wisdom and tolerance of his appeal, made him a leader throughout the United States and a respected figure in the world arena. His award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 was justly earned.
Martin was shot at 6:05 pm on Thursday, April 4, 1968 outside of the second floor of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Luther was shot on the head and neck
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most important leaders in American history. He was a civil rights activist and a Baptist minister (“Martin Luther King Jr.”). He is most remembered for his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. He was strong-willed, determined, peaceful and powerful.
The kidnapping of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., was a case millions of police officers were involved in. Despite the evidence that could clearly dismiss Hauptmann as the killer, he was still executed for this crime. This kidnapping will forever live on as the Crime of the
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination By: Kassandra Osuna Professor Thuvanuti, US History, Block E Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929 and later on died on April 4, 1968. He was born as Michael Luther King Jr. However, he later on changed his name to Martin Luther King Jr.
Workers demanded the ending of discrimination in the workplace, safe working conditions, equal pay, and recognition from the union. It was here where King delivered his “ I've been to the mountaintop speech” and later that evening Martin Luther King was assassinated at his motel. Attracting national attention and news media, Memphis agreed to the workers’ demands and the strike ended after 64 days. James Earl Ray plead guilty to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, and sentenced to 99 years in jail (US History). MLK has left a lasting impression and is still seen today as the most widely recognized African-American leader of his era.
Martin Luther King Jr. “Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace.
And, even told his wife, Coretta Scott King, after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, "This is whats going to happen to me."(Ching) At 7:05 pm, Martin Luther King Jr. is pronounced dead after getting shot in the neck at 6:05 pm. Martin Luther King Jr. was staying at the Lorraine Motel and was having dinner with Samuel “Billy” Kyles (Ching). Martin Luther King Jr went on to the balcony and was shot in the neck by James Earl Ray, using a Remington 30-06 rifle from a building across the street.
But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!” the next day at 7:04 pm, Martin Luther King Jr. was pronounced dead at St. Joseph 's Hospital. As the leader of the civil rights movement and one of the most influential men of his time, Martin Luther King Jr. lived a dangerous life. There were many people who could have wanted King dead, conspiracies point to the government, facts point to James Earl Ray. Conspiracies began taking shape as soon as the trials started, most were presented with a lack of definite proof.
Dr. King and Malcom X knew racism was the biggest issue that had to be fixed, with the support of millions of followers. Unlike their differences of religion, the independent strong leaders had their own spiritual beliefs. Meanwhile, Malcolm X was older than Martin Luther King Jr., they were both assassinated at the same age. Malcolm was 39 when the members of the Nation of Islam gunned him down on February 21, 1965 as he gave his speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. King was 39 as well, when James Earl Ray shot him down on April 4 1968, as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; he was in town to support striking African American sanitation workers.