Death in Memphis: Martin Luther King

In April 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was at the height of his popularity. He had mobilized the Black masses of America against apartheid and won civil rights concessions that made Blacks and Whites equal in the eyes of the law. But J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, had an obsessive hatred of King and was determined to silence him. With the assassination of President Kennedy, King lost a vital ally, and by taking a stand against America’s intervention in Vietnam, he ultimately lost all sympathy at the White House, turning Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, into an enemy.

On the afternoon of April 4th, 1968, at his Memphis hotel, the crosshairs of a sharpshooter’s rifle were centered on his head. He was assassinated with a perfect shot.

The search immediately centered on James Earl Ray, an escaped prisoner convicted of armed robbery in a supermarket. His rifle and some personal belongings were found in a bag outside a building directly across from the hotel. However, many insist that Ray was merely a fall guy — and believe the FBI set him up. Despite disturbing evidence, the case has never been reopened for investigation.