On a wonderful April day, Martin Luther King Jr was out on the balcony of his hotel room preparing for his speech. James Earl Ray aimed his rifle. Shots rang out! And the great civil rights leader was struck down in his prime. James Earl Ray unjustly assassinated Martin Luther King Jr, an advocate for justice and equality in America. The assassination changed the Civil Rights Movement from being peaceful to more violent.
On January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia Martin Luther King Jr was brought into the world. King was a middle child, with an older brother and a younger sister. King studied at Boston University, Morehouse College, and Crozer Theological Seminary. He became a Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a Civil Rights Activist and a Minister. While trying so hard to de-segregate blacks and whites from being together.
King did many things to help African Americans get the same rights as whites. During King’s ideas to Strike Toward Freedom, he received threatening phone calls late in the evening. King
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Ray escaped from a Missouri prison. He had the help from Eric Galt and John Willard to get Ray into a motel in the Memphis area. Using a Remington rifle, he shot the bullet from his bathroom window that looked out onto Kings hotel balcony. Ray flew to Canada. The FBI placed him on the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. He bought a passport under the name of Sneyd. Ray traveled to England after he was put onto the list in Canada. A week later he travels to Lisbon, Portugal for five days and went back to London. Ray moved from hotel to hotel, country to country until he was finally caught on June 8 at Heathrow Airport. Ray was a career criminal who was in and out of prison for many small time robberies. Many suspects say Ray was paid to assassinate King. Ray was pleaded guilt and his scheduled trial began in March 1969 and was sentenced to prison for 99 years. Ray denied his confession and demanded on his innocence for