Martin Luther King Jr.: The Assassination Of James Earl Ray

Martin Luther king Jr. was a man who made black history before he was assassinated on an early evening of April 4, 1968, by James Earl Ray. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by one single shot between his neck and face. He was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. This is where he had come to lead a peaceful march for the support of striking sanitation workers. At 7:05 p.m. he was pronounced dead at the St. Joseph Hospital. As a result, over one hundred cities erupted in rioting, burning, and looting. The impact of the King assassination was not only immediate violence, but also increased tension between the whites and blacks in America.

Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader who led the Civil Rights Movement

The Memphis officers found the bundle and inside was a 30-60 rifle, ammunition, and a pair of binoculars. The police then ran a search on the rifle and found it had been purchased in Birmingham by Harvey Lowmeyer, which was eventually determined to be one of James Early Ray’s many alliances. Authorities had little information to go on about Harvey Lowmeyer. Harvey Lowmeyer was described as a white male, 36 years old, 8 feet and 5 inches tall, 150 to 160 pounds, with black or brown hair (Ferrell P.

He interrupted the proceeding several times, saying that he agreed to all the stipulations, but not the theories that Mr. Clark, the Attorney General of Memphis made. Three days later, he recanted his plea and sent two letters to the judge battle requesting a new trial. The judge ignored the two letters, then was found dead at his desk from a heart attack, three weeks later with Ray’s appeal under his dead body. (Ferrell P. 1). Ray would always recant his confession, claiming that he was a victim of a conspiracy. He later found sympathy from members of King’s family, including King’s son Dexter, who met with Ray in 1997 and argued to reopen Ray’s case. Ray was supported by some of King’s family. They believed that the U.S. government had something to do with King’s death. The U.S. government conducted several investigations into the trials they had, and each time they would confirm Ray’s guilt as the sole assassin (History P. 3-4). Ray died in the prison cell on April 23, 1998 from a kidney and liver failure, at the age 70. King’s widowed wife Coretta King publicly said, “America will never have the benefit of Mr. Ray’s trial, which would have produced new revelations about the assassination as well as establish the facts concerning Mr. Ray’s innocence.” (History P. 4). King’s wife spent the weeks after her husband’s death courageously continuing the campaign to aid the striking Memphis workers and