A Shot Against Freedom: The Assassination of Martin Luther King
James Earl Ray was the perfect man to fit the description of King's murderer. He was a white, racist, petty criminal, an army throw-away, a nobody trying to make a name for himself. He left the perfect evidence behind as well, a rifle with his prints, and a personal radio with his prison ID engraved on it. James was also quite an unstable individual. At his own request, in 1966 Ray began psychological counseling to quiet the voices in his head (Gribben 2005). It turned out to be something of a mistake, because the authorities that had watched him do his time quietly with only that one rule violation learned they had a neurotic, obsessive-compulsive paranoid on their hands.
James Earl Ray managed to stay out of trouble as a child -- a little truant, perhaps, but generally not a bad kid. He had it rough; his family was poor, they moved around frequently, thanks to a couple of shiftless relatives that made life difficult in the small towns in the Midwest the family lived in. He was accused of theft in the sixth grade, and by the time he was 15, he had had enough of school. He got his first taste of prison life after joining the Army and getting sent to Germany in the years following World War II. Seems James liked to drink and got himself arrested by the MPs on a drunk and disorderly charge. He was sentenced to 90 days hard labor in the stockade (Gribben 2005). When he got out of the service, he began drifting around and spending a few nights in jail for vagrancy. His first big arrest came in 1949 and he served eight months in a California jail for burglary (Fisher 2006). In 1952, he did two years for an armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois (Fisher 2006). With all of these facts it would seem that James was the most probable suspect, but one would be wrong to make those generalizations without the whole picture.
Doubts about Earl being the assassin of King have been widespread since almost directly after the time that King was murdered. Many have speculated that the FBI, especially J. Edgar Hoover, was involved in the murder of Martin Luther King. J. Edgar Hoover had a strong contempt for Martin Luther King. Hoover wasn't necessarily a racist; he just hated anybody who challenged his almost omnipotent power over the American justice system (Lane 58).
also exemplifies a compassionate leader, but another leadership quality of King’s was his unmatched trustworthiness amongst the black people of the 1950’s and 60’s. Martin Luther King Jr. lived during a time of severe segregation and hate toward the African-American people of the United States. Many African-American civil rights activists- such as Reverend George Lee, Lamar Smith, and NAACP State Director Medgar Evers- were victims of gruesome murders due to their efforts in the Civil Rights Movement (Austin, 2002). Martin Luther King Jr. too was killed as a result of his efforts as one of the leaders of the movement, and every time that King organized a demonstration, his followers also risked their lives by participating. Their trust in Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent demonstrations was eventually rewarded, as now the African-American people comprise an important part of
He also got arrested in 1950 for being absent without leave. Believe it or not, he still received an honorable discharge four years after he joined the service. After he was released from the Air Force, he went back home to Massachusetts. Bulger spent his first serious time in prison when he spent time in Atlanta Penitentiary. He was sentenced to armed robbery and hijacking.
...having an amiable relationship with the man. The theory of the Lone Gunman is also questionable as the Warren Commission Report failed to provide substantial evidence to support its claim about Oswald’s motives to assassinate the president. Compared to others, the theory of LBJ being the man behind it all seem to be the most believable. Ruby’s questionable motives behind the killing of the convicted killer Oswald, preventing him to go to trials suggested possible conspiracies behind the assassination. Eliminating both the Lone Gunman theory and the CIA as the potential killer of the president, LBJ is by far the most plausible candidate to assassinate JFK. Considering that LBJ had greater motives to kill President Kennedy than any man alive, it is far more rational to assume that LBJ had killed President Kennedy to become the next president of the United States.
On April 4th, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, an event that would change history forever occurred. That was the day James Earl Ray assassinated the driving force of the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. It shook the nation, as the man who was planning on bringing peace and racial harmony in the United States was killed in an instant. He was probably the most influential scapegoat in American history, setting out to create equality for all races in America. There were many extremist white-based groups which detested the idea of equality, believing that whites were superior over all, groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Martin Luther King did not back down when groups like the KKK harassed him; he used their hate against them and allowed it to thrust him forward for the sake of bettering his cause and pushing towards racial equality. In the end, Martin Luther King was assassinated for his passion and beliefs; his hard work paid off because after his death, there was at least legal racial equality in the U.S. His bravery and strength
was was a minister and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King led the civil rights movement since the 1950’s, using non-violent actions to fight segregation. King faced much criticism in the later years of his life from younger black activists who favored a more violent, confrontational approach to bringing change. King was standing on a second floor balcony in the spring of 1968 when he was struck in the neck by a sniper’s bullet. About an hour after being rushed to the hospital, King was pronounced dead. News of King’s assassination was reported internationally and covered in newspapers, magazines, and the nightly new in the days that followed. Many of the front page articles covering it were not about his death, but rather various stories surrounding it, including violent acts like burning and looting. The article "Assassination Of King Sparks Negro Violence" appeared on the front page of The Valdosta Daily Times and reported the reaction of the black public to the violent act committed against such a passive and strong non-violent leader. In contrast, “An Hour of Need”, published in TIME shortly after King’s death, said “Even as that hope blossomed, an older blight on the American conscience burst through with the capriciousness of a spring freeze. In Memphis, through the budding branches of trees surrounding a tawdry rooming house, a white sniper’s bullet cut down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., pre-eminent voice of the just aspirations and long-suffering patience of black America.” President Johnson called for an extraordinary joint session of Congress to hear “The President’s recommendations for action —constructive action instead of destructive action—in this hour of national need.’” He urged Americans to reject the violence and called on congress to pass the civil rights legislation entering the House for debate. On April 11, he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. In the climate of sorrow and guilt that engulfed
Some theories are that it was organized by the CIA, Fidel Castro, an Anarchist group, even by Vice-President Lyndon Johnson. However, once all the evidence is examined, it appears that the assassination was done by a lone man. So much of the evidence, from the way the assassination occurred, to the details of the alleged assassins’ life, and even to the official government findings and a film of the assassination, all point to the fact that there was no conspiracy and that Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. Evidence that proves Oswald’s guilt are as follows; Oswald was pro-Communist, and hated America. He was in the Depository at the time of the assassination, and searches of the building found evidence of his work. The rifle with his finger prints on it was found by a make-shift snipers nest.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights leader during the middle part of the twentieth century. He gave many speeches and led peace marches to gain equal rights for African Americans. I chose to research the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. I guess I knew that he was assassinated but I didn’t know the details. I wanted to know who killed him, when, where, and how King died. The Purpose of this paper is not to determine if James Earl Ray did in fact kill Martin Luther King. Rather, it is a dissection of characters and events utilizing the ideas of the illustrious James Baldwin. In the early part of 1968 he was interested in producing another civil rights march for the poor. Before that could happen, the sanitation workers of the city of Memphis, Tennessee, summoned him. He arrived in March in ord...
Any number of people could have convinced him to attempt to kill the president and then they would kill him so that any questions could not be answered. There are claims that he was involved with the CIA, the Mafia, Russians, and Cubans. This conglomerate had been at odds with Kennedy and could have had reason to assassinate Kennedy. If they interacted with Oswald, they could have made him some kind of offer he could not refuse, that of a better life, greater power, or public recognition. Undoubtedly Oswald was seeking power, and seemed to have a miserable life so he could have been the perfect pawn in someone else 's plan to kill the president. This could be the reason why he was called a patsy. Additionally, he was known for his dissatisfaction with the American government and wanted to blame it for his own
King said “I realize I will always be the poster child for police brutality, but I can try to use that as a positive force for healing and restraint.” Even though it was 1991 when this incident took place and people thought we were past racism in America, it made us realize racism still exist in America in 1991 and even today. The overall theme of the story is don’t judge a book by it’s cover. In other words a police officer’s image is positive but their motive may not be
Kirk, J. (2007). Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement: controversies and debates. Basingstoke New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is known to be a civil rights activist, humanitarian, a father, and a clergyman. He is well known for fighting for the equal rights of colored people and ending discrimination. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is an important part of history that showed King’s opinion of a letter that he happened to read in the newspaper written by a group of clergyman. In this letter, the group of clergyman report that colored people, also known as black people, are being violent towards Birmingham City. Also, the clergymen believed the time that will allow segregation to be diminished was not happening anytime soon because it is not convenient. King refuted the clergymen’s argument in a variety of ways using tactics of argumentation and persuasion like appeal to emotion through real life examples, appeal to logic, and even articulating certain phrases through metaphors and word choice. Many of these different tactics of argumentation and persuasion made his letter very effective and is now seen as a great piece that is looked upon highly today.
Thesis Statement: About Thirteen years ago, Ray Lewis a Baltimore Ravens linebacker was involved in an disagreement outside a nightclub in Atlanta where Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar were stabbed to death. Ray Lewis and his fellow associates left the scene. With blood found on his white suit Lewis would later be blamed for the murder charges of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar while pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.
At 5:20 p.m. on October 2 2002, a victimless shot was fired through a window of a Michaels Craft Store in Aspen Hill. About an hour later, at 6:30 p.m., James Martin, a 55-year-old program analyst at NOAA, was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Shoppers Food Warehouse grocery store, located in Glenmont.
...In the riotous aftermath of King's assassination, the FBI reported extensively about Daley's "shoot to kill" order aimed at arsonists, a stand the FBI praised.
...vists all over began to fight . Martin Luther King Jr. praised the FBI for its work for arresting the men who were in connection with the murders but he was still not happy with how the case turned out.