Who Killed Martin Luther King Jr.?
- Details
- Category: Race & Liberation
- Created on Monday, 21 January 2008 12:49
- Written by Mike Ely
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by Mike Ely Last year, on January 15, the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., I was in Memphis for the first time and went with friends and comrades to the Lorraine Motel after a commemorative march through town. A long line of people stretched out of the building, now a museum to Dr. King and the historic struggle against Jim Crow segregation. It wound down the block and out into the parking lot -- filled with families who had come together, groups of high school youth, and somber veterans of the civil rights days. The memories of loss, rage and hope from those days long ago, in 1968, are still vivid and passed on.
This article digs into the controversies and facts surrounding King's assassination.
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On April 24, 1998, 30 years after the killing of Dr. King, the accused assassin James Earl Ray died in a prison hospital in Nashville. The official story is that Ray was a loner who shot King in Memphis on April 4, 1968 and escaped out of the country. And after Ray's death the national media insisted, once again, that there is "no evidence" of any high-level conspiracy. In fact, there are many reasons to believe that Dr. King was killed by an organized conspiracy and that powerful forces within the ruling class were involved.
James Earl Ray was a small-time, white racist, stickup man. In April 1968 he had been on the run for a year, after escaping from a Missouri penitentiary. Yet the authorities claim that Ray stalked King methodically from one city to another and arranged to have plastic surgery in Los Angeles. They expect people to believe that Ray simply shot King at the Lorraine Motel, and then climbed in his distinctive white Mustang and drove out of Memphis--even though King was under close federal surveillance. Ray traveled from Memphis to Atlanta, to Canada, to England, to Portugal, back to England and then was arrested on June 8 on his way to the white racist African state of Rhodesia--traveling with two false Canadian passports, registered under different names. And yet people are told this was done without accomplices, financial help or a larger organization.
Facts from Memphis
Gerald Posner recently wrote a book, Killing the Dream, intended to debunk "conspiracy theories" around King's death. However, this book is useful because of what it can't deny: According to Posner 12 or 14 government agents were packed into a firehouse on the day King was shot at the Lorraine Motel--less than 150 feet away from both King and the assassin. FBI agents and military intelligence agents were watching every move of King's group, and were assisted by Black Memphis cops who could identify figures of the local Black community. Two Black firemen were transferred from that firehouse--so they could not alert King about these secret government activities.
When the assassination happened, the Memphis police did not set up roadblocks on the avenues leading out of town (as they ordinarily do in such cases). They did not even issue an "all-points bulletin" for surrounding areas until long after the assassin escaped.
Posner also reports that the first person to reach Dr. King after the shooting was an undercover Memphis police officer, Marrell McCollough. This is similar to the way an undercover New York cop was the first person to reach Malcolm X after he was assassinated. Posner reports that McCollough subsequently went to work for the CIA.
Within minutes of the assassination, someone reported over a CB radio that a white Mustang was driving through north Memphis shooting at people. Meanwhile Ray drove out of town to the south. Police claim that this CB call was a teenage prank. But many people believe it was an accomplice helping Ray escape.
Ray always denied he shot King and claimed he was hired for a gun-running operation by a man called Raoul. According to Ray, this Raoul promised to get him out of the country but then set him up as a fall guy. These claims were never explored in a public trial. Ray was pressured into pleading guilty. Judge Battle, who presided over that hearing, later said he too doubted that Ray acted alone.
The FBI and the Struggle within the Ruling Class
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Comments (27)
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Guest (david spates)
PermalinkI made a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day video that I think EVERYONE will enjoy. It’s really short, and should put a smile on your face.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AtugYg42mmc
David Spates0 Like -
Guest (Victor Arinze Nkwo)
PermalinkTitle: I Luv Dr Martin Luthar King jr. Shot response. History has revealed a great leader whose dream has survived the African Americans 2day who labourd in slavery tirelessy in shame for their white folks. Only 2day a black man Barack Obama has won the presidential Pramaries and could become the next president of USA. All thanks to M.L. king Jr. And fellow petriots who died for the liberation of the Blacks race in America and the world. Thank you.
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Guest (Carl Davidson)
PermalinkAn associate of mine, Denis Mueller, produced an excellent feature-length documentary on the King assassination, making the points Mike does above, and more.
Here's the link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3793111576487038398
He and I worked together on another similar project on the JFK assassination, if anyone's still interested in that one. It was put out on MPI Home Video via Blockbuster:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0260710/0 Like -
Guest (stabb)
PermalinkMore about Martin Luther King.
http://martin-luther-king-stcop.blogspot.com/0 Like -
Guest (Stanley W. Rogouski)
PermalinkWilliam Pepper (who was actually James Earl Ray's lawyer in the 1990s and King's family in the King family vs. Loyd Jowers case) wrote a book called "An Act of State" about the King assassination. The argument that Ray was a scapegoat's pretty convincing.
But then again, not having done any serious research on the case, I guess any reasonably argued book into an idea that seems so perfectly plausible (that the government assassinated King) is going to be convincing.
Watching the inauguation yesterday, I was left with the impression that King had triumphed, but the sanitized, ruling class friendly King you're taught about in school, not the real King who made the speech against the Vietnam War.
Obama represents a triump of the black elite and that would have been impossible without King. But Obama also very consciously backtracked off of King's opposition to the war in Vietnam in his speech.
Here's the relevent quote:
<i>For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.
</i>
Nobody fought for me at Khe Sanh.0 Like -
Guest (Stanley W. Rogouski)
Permalink<i>Interesting, Stanley. I heard that as “Quezon,” but the official transcript at whitehouse.gov confirms it as “Khe Sanh.” Very different connotation</i>
Well, Quezon would have two connotations. It could mean liberating the Philippines from Japanese fascism or it could mean enslaving the Philippines for American imperialism.
But I doubt Obama would follow Normandy with a WWII Pacific battle.0 Like -
Guest (Nia Lashay Carpenter)
PermalinkI love dr. MArtin luther king.He died and suffered because a man who didn't like what he was doing.He was just trying to make us live with a better life and someone ruend it I think I know who killed him a guy guy named James Ray Earl he did that to a guy who was just trying to help us. He was on the devils side that time he did that he should go down to to the devils home sense he did that at least he should have repented but he didn't. You should be a shamed of your self who ever did that. Thats why you are in jail now.So you are the worst person ever so you need to go to jail for the rest of your life thats what i say. If you see this right now who ever did this to martin Luther king if you MAD I dont care you need to see this you are the Horrible- est person on earth so you should be a ashamed of your self who ever did this.So you can rot and suffer in jail.You need to be ashamed of yourself because you did this to yourself.Bye The person who killed Martin Luther KIng. So you can read this who ever did that to the man who tried to help the soilders not get killed
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Guest (NJKM)
PermalinkI just want to say that, yeah we have a black presinted and hopefuly he will be a good one but martin luther king was really brave but some things that people say about blacks is horribluy wse are ahll the same oin matter what coulor we are so i just wat to say that artin luthet king hwas mint. just think if it wasn'y 4 martinluther king we would have never have changde unless some one eles might have duno the same as artin luther king!!!!! but martin luther king could have been killed at anytime so he have a very good life and it was very long but someone might have killed him sooner like when he was making his first speech or something think about it every body at this time Hated blacks and martin luther king was making all these march's and speech's so he might have been killed soon But He Shouldn't have been killed the man who did it should ROT IN PRISON AND SHOULS HAVE A LONG AND PAINFUL DEATH!!!!!
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Stanley wrote in regard to Obama:
<blockquote>"Here’s the relevent quote: "For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh." Nobody fought for me at Khe Sanh."
DW wrote:
<blockquote>"Interesting, Stanley. I heard that as “Quezon,” but the official transcript at whitehouse.gov confirms it as “Khe Sanh.” Very different connotation."</blockquote>
Khe Sanh was a battle in the attempted U.S. conquest of Vietnam during the 1960s.
Quezon is a province in the Philippines -- which the U.S. conquered around 1900 and then reconquered during World War 2.
Both are examples of imperialism (and Stanley's point that both wars were not "for us" holds true). I would say it also holds true for Normandy (where the U.S. landed to take western Europe during world war 2).
Obama is upholding the wars for the expansion and defense of an empire. He is equating them with the anti-slavery struggle of the civil war (i.e. Gettysburg) and claiming these wars for empire were fought "for us" (for the defense or interests of the people within the U.S.)
DW, what is the different connotation between those various imperialist wars -- between the attempt to conquer Vietnam and the earlier wars to conquer the Philippines?0 Like -
Guest (Jeff Weinberger)
PermalinkNOTE: Bobby Kennedy was killed two months after Martin Luther King, not the following month.
Do you think it coincidental that King was killed a year to the day after giving probably his most politically assertive speech ever, referred to as the Beyond Vietnam speech, April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in NY? For anyone who hasn't heard it try to find it as, like great poetry, it's far more impactful heard than read. Here's a transcript: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16566794/ns/us_news-race_and_ethnicity/ Democracy Now, democracynow.org, played the entire speech today.
What you shared, Mike, is very compelling and we have to keep insisting on the truth if we're every going to get to it. We can't just hope for it.0 Like -
Guest (alexis)
PermalinkWHO KILLED HIM JAMES EARL RAY KILLED MARTIN LUTHER KING MAN HE WAS WRONG HE WAS THE ONE WHO GAVE US THIS MOMENTY TO B IN WHITE SCHOOL GOD PLEASE PRAY THAT THEY TRANHGLE THAT MAN CAUSE JUST BECAUSE THEY DIDNT LIKE HIM DNT MEAN U CAN KILL HIM SO ILL PRAY FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING AND ILL WONT PRAY FOR JAMES HE DOES DESERVE TO DIE HE SHOULD B ALIVE TELL PL TO YAHVE BLCK PPL IN SCHOOOOL THANKZ TO MARTIN LUTHER KING FOR THIS MOMENT OF HIS TIME WE EVJOYS HIS MKOMENTS HE SHARED WIT US
*PrettyGirlRock*0 Like -
Guest (Kasama milestone: 4,500,000 pa)
Permalink[...] Everything: Make the ripples, build for wavesUnderstanding Che Guevara -- 42 Years After His MurderWho Killed Martin Luther King Jr.?Stop FBI Repression -- SDS Nat'l Day of Action Tues. Jan 25, 2011Korean War June 25, 1950: U.S. [...]
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Guest (Tyler Horvath)
PermalinkThis article is truly unbelievable revisionist history. Dr. King was never a moderate, neither in his own eyes or in the eyes of his enemies. The FBI considered him to be a "Maoist" in fact. they were obsessed with destroying him and creating a puppet, he was never their puppet. Dr King in the Letter from a Birmingham Jail declares himself to be an extremist for justice. While many other Civil Rights leaders felt it best to focus on their specific issues Dr King took a stand against the brutal and imperialist war in Vietnam. He was never the power structures puppet, followed the dictates of his conscience and never made deals that compromised that. He never held an elected office or received a paycheck from a government agency. He was deeply critical of the economic system in the US and called for radical redistribution of wealth. He directly tied the black liberation struggle in America to struggles against colonialism across the entire world. Read some of his books before you claim to know anything about him please, in particular read Where do We Go From Here Chaos or Community. His plan to occupy DC with an army of multiracial poor people, Latino Native American and poor whites scared the living ....(fill that space with whatever you please) out of the American elite. And they of course killed him, while he was engaged in a labor struggle for economic justice. It has been proven in court what everyone with a head on on their shoulders can already devise. James Early Ray was not the killer but a conspiracy that involved the Memphis Police Department, the FBI, Military Intelligence and the Mafia.
A speech by Dr King about Vietnam.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm0 Like -
Guest (PatrickSMcNally)
PermalinkTH, you're mixing up the last 3 years of his life with the rest. Jeff Cohen & Norman Solomon pointed the distinction out back in 1995:
www.fair.org/index.php?page=2269
If there was a hidden conspracy behind the King assassination, the motive for it is to be found in the shift which King made in his last 3 years after the Civil Rights Acts had ended Jim Crow.0 Like -
Guest (Tyler Horvath)
PermalinkWell Patrick the last three years of his life is the part where he got killed, I'm not confused. Revolution is a journey, a process. I also urge people to read at least some excerpts of his real writings, not just what "experts" and historians and people with various agendas care to make out of him. Its just factually inaccurate when people say stuff like Dr King urged people to ignore the anti imperialist struggle and calm down when that is the exact opposite of what Dr King said and did.
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