Martin Luther King Jr. met Malcolm X just once. We found no reliable evidence to support Jowers' allegations that he conspired with others to shoot Dr. King from behind Jim's Grill. Exactly what led Ray to kill King continues to be a source of debate, as does his role in the murder. No other parties (including any branches or agents of the United States Government) were named as defendants in King v. Jowers, and no identification was provided by Jowers of the purported other parties with whom he colluded to assassinate King. However, the verdict was of no real significance given that virtually nothing was at stake (this was not a criminal trial, and the defendant was only being sued for a mere $100 and thus had little motivation for vigorously defending himself), allowing the King family to present a mostly unopposed version of events and guide the jury to return the verdict they desired. While Biden and the Democrats feel Black America is their voting plantation, if a black man or woman thinks for themselves, as Biden stated, you aint black as if their skin color has changed. Many leaders like Candace Owens in the black community have begun to spread the message of #Blexit, a movement that encourages Black America to leave the Democrat Party. The Rhodesian government expressed its disapproval. Most famously, in 1997 a dying Ray told Dexter King, his victims son, that he didnt do it. Jowers further maintained that Ray did not shoot Dr. King and that he did not believe Ray knowingly participated in the conspiracy. No I didn't." Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to 99 years of imprisonment. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. James Earl Ray was white. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations. His family believes James Earl Ray was f Arnold Hirsch, influential historian of urban segregation, dies at 69. Whitsett responded, Im not going to be silenced and has since sued the Michigan Democrat Party. Shortly after the shot was fired, witnesses saw Ray fleeing from a rooming house across the street from the motel where he had been renting a room. By the 1960s, Democrats like Governor George Wallace and Bull Conner fought against civil rights and turned hoses on black protesters. Ray's life outside the Army proved even less stable. Pepper said Dexter King asked Ray, Did you kill my father? and that Ray answered, No, I didnt. He said Dexter King told Ray, We will do everything in our power to see that justice prevails.. Rays lawyer J.B. Stoner was a known white supremacist, and Ray who also made clear his admiration for Hitler had done volunteer work for the 1968 presidential campaign of Alabamas former segregationist Governor George Wallace, who had gone head-to-head with King in Birmingham, Selma and Montgomery. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. I dont believe James Earl Ray killed my father. Ray hired Jack Kershaw as his new attorney, and Kershaw publicly argued and promoted Ray's claim that he was not responsible for the assassination of King. The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband. The year women refused to stay silent, tossed their bras and redefined poli To fight the status quo, the activists of 1968 harnessed the power of fashi MLK was dead. Jowers also abandoned his initial allegation that he received $100,000 with which he hired a hit man to kill Dr. King, claiming instead that he merely held the money for the conspirators. Officially: Case closed. The family wasnt seeking money, just information. That doesnt mean there are no questions left. Inspired by the failed jail break by James Earl Ray, the man convicted for the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King and serving a 99-year sentence, After this, Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. Ray was a known criminal, on the lam after escaping a Missouri state prison when he committed the assassination, and had more than two dozen known aliases for himself before he was put behind bars again. Ray was spotted at the scene and, almost immediately after the killing, his fingerprints were found on the gun. He also initially sought compensation for his story, and his friends and relatives acknowledge that he hoped to make money from his account. Additionally, Jowers has been inconsistent about other aspects of the alleged conspiracy, including his role in it, Raoul's responsibilities, whether and how Memphis police officers were involved, and the disposal of the alleged murder weapon. [19], Ray was soon on the road again and drove his Mustang to Birmingham, Alabama. In a time of chaos, a breakout year for black athletes, At Folsom prison, Johnny Cash found his cause. With rates currently down to half that in 2018 (18%), these theories seem unlikely to go away any time soon. In fact, credible evidence contradicting his allegations, as well as material inconsistencies among his accounts and his own repudiations of them, demonstrate that Jowers has not been truthful. He then grabbed some belongings in a blanket, stashed the rifle in it, left the building and dropped the bundle in the doorway of a nearby building. By signing up you are agreeing to our, What Happened to Martin Luther King Jr.'s Last Campaigns, The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance. Finally, on July 19, 1968, the FBI caught up with Ray in London and extradited him to the United States. Indeed, compelling evidence including Rays fingerprints on the rifle that was later determined to be the murder weapon seemed to point to him. More Memphis witnesses came forward, including a former girlfriend of Jowers, who said she saw him with the rifle shortly after the gunshot rang out, and saw him break it down and place it in the bar. Then, at 6:01 p.m., she will lead a bell-ringing at the exact moment of the shooting, 39 times for every year of her fathers life, certain that the person who killed him has never been caught. Then Loyd Jowers, the owner of Jims Grill, began claiming publicly that he was involved in a conspiracy to kill King. James Earl Ray was capture in Nashville,Tennesee. In 1955, he was convicted of mail fraud after stealing money orders in Hannibal, Missouri. Pepper said the CIA could have fabricated the records. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Earl_Ray&oldid=1142126272, American people who died in prison custody, People extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States, Prisoners who died in Tennessee detention, United States Army personnel of World War II, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 99 years in prison (1 year was added after his re-capture for a total of 100 years), This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 17:21. [14] The notion of living in Rhodesia continued to appeal to Ray for several years afterwards, and it was his intended destination after King's assassination. I believe Ray was a bluedog democrat but according to Mr. Kings son there is some strong doubt as to whether he was the one who killed his dad. An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Twenty years later, I remain absolutely convinced this well-supported finding is correct., The King family disagrees, with Martin King III adopting Peppers theory of Hoover directing the assassination. As Sides points out, it isnt surprising that members of Kings family and his fellow civil-rights leaders would have suspected that some larger government conspiracy to kill the minister must been at play. Kings two other surviving children, Dexter, 57, and Martin III, 60, fully agree that Ray was innocent. What Biden and the Democrats have done through the years is offer appetizers to Black America without ever delivering the full course meal. Kershaw claimed the prison escape was additional proof that Ray had been involved in a conspiracy that had provided him with the outside assistance he would have needed to break out of prison. Whatever the exact details were that led him to Memphis in April 1968, Ray rented a room at a rooming house under the name Eric Starvo Galt, near the Lorraine Motel, where King was staying. Your answer to that one is also yes. Not everyone in the Kings circle agrees with the full extent of Peppers investigation, but they agree that Ray was framed. He later joined the U.S. Army at the close of World War II and served in Germany. King was murdered in Memphis on April 4, 1968, and the FBI seized the car the following day in Atlanta. And he asserted that he did not "personally shoot Dr. King," but may have been "partially responsible without knowing it," hinting at a conspiracy. Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes. Given the minor sum of money awarded, a jury would have little incentive to not find in favor of an account supported by both sides of a flawed case. He was charged with drunkenness and breaking arrest, before getting discharged for ineptness and lack of adaptability in 1948. The two men parted ways. That weapon was not the weapon, Martin Luther King III said. There were things in Memphis that were suspicious and raised questions in my mind, Lawson said. Nor have any of the conspiracy theories advanced in the last 30 years, including the Jowers and the Wilson allegations, survived critical examination. You can unsubscribe at any time. In 1959, he was caught stealing $120 in an armed robbery of a Kroger store in St. Georgia Democrat State Representative Vernon Jones also received backlash from Georgia Democrats for endorsing President Trump. The paper reported King's planned return trip to Memphis, Tennessee, which was scheduled for 1st April, 1968. He confessed to the crime on March 10, 1969, his 41st birthday,[34] and after pleading guilty he was sentenced to 99 years in prison.[35]. He was believed to have been en route to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), which was at the time a haven for white supremacists. Our thorough investigation, Kowalski said recently, just like four official investigations before it, found no credible or reliable evidence that Doctor King was killed by conspirators who framed James Earl Ray. They want to hold onto their plantation and if anyone from Black America balks, they will put that black person back in their chains. No. As far as I knew, he was a common bandit who suddenly tried for his 15 minutes. The biggest notoriety he had was as an escape artist. Tennessee Lincoln was assassinated by a Democrat, John Wilkes Booth in 1865. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced Name: James Earl Birth Year: 1928 Birth date: March 10, 1928 Birth State: Illinois Birth City: Alton Birth Country: United States Gender: Male Best Known For: James Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. Even a 1978 special congressional committee said there was the "likelihood" that Ray did not act alone. Ray himself countered that he was not the only one involved in the crime. Some witnesses, including then-New York Times reporter Earl Caldwell, said they saw a man moving in the thick bushes behind Jims Grill, below the bathroom. He at first fled to Canada but, unable to get on a ship and flee overseas, he returned to the U.S. and made his way to first Alabama, then Mexico, and later Los Angeles. I dont know what happened, but the truth of what happened to Dr. King should be made available for historys sake.. By all accounts, the two main parties involved, the King family and Jowers, had disparate goals served by the civil suit's outcome; and no substantive evidence was presented to establish any of the claims made by Jowers had any merit. "I believe you," Dexter responded and shook his hand. Also at issue is the difference between Ray's guilty plea in 1969, which avoided his undergoing a criminal trial, and the case cited by the rumors, which was a civil trial heard in 1999. For the King family and others in the civil rights movement, the FBIs obsession with King in the years leading up to his slaying in Memphis on April 4, 1968 pervasive surveillance, a malicious disinformation campaign and open denunciations by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover laid the groundwork for their belief that he was the target of a plot. In the five decades since Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead by an assassin at age 39, his children have worked tirelessly to preserve his legacy, sometimes with sharply different views on how best to do that. The Democrats opposed all Amendments. Because Ray suddenly pleaded guilty in 1969, less than a year after the shooting, there was no trial. That thank you got her censured by Democrats to silence her as she stated Democrats have ousted her from the Democrat Party and hinder her abilities to do her job. She was also a guest speaker for the womens branch of the KKK. We are going to continue our conversation about the King assassination. Frederick Rudolph Yokom. Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies. Magazines, Digital Im just going to try to sell it and make a buck, Red Strickland, an independent automobile dealer from Memphis, said at an auction Thursday after buying the Mustang once driven by James Earl Ray. In 1977, James Earl Ray, who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr., escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in the town of Petros in Morgan County, Tennessee. It didnt help that Rays story kept changing. After getting laid off in 1945, Ray enlisted in the Army, eventually getting stationed in West Germany. More to the point, however, Jowers (who didn't even testify) was the only named party in the civil suit brought by the King family, and the judgment awarded in that case was a paltry $100, widely described as a token award to mark the trial's outcome. Why do you assume he was a Democrat? By that time, the Dixiecrats were rapidly becoming Republicans - so if he WAS a registered democrat, it was ju Jowers stashed the rifle behind the bar and said it was later picked up by Raul and tossed in the Mississippi River. Biden befriended Byrd and shared the same policies that shackled Black America. Those prints were already among the FBIs records for wanted individuals. James Earl Ray began a record of scrapes, big and small, with the law serving terms in Joliet and Pontiac prisons in Illinois and Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. Jowers also reported that he hired a hit man to shoot Dr. King from behind Jim's Grill and received the murder weapon prior to the killing from someone with a name sounding like Raoul. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. James Lawson, a Memphis pastor and civil rights institution who helped mentor King, said he began visiting Ray in the Memphis jail in 1969 when Ray complained Im in the car business. August 29, 1968 #286 One week on the list This verdict is not only a great victory for my family, but also a great victory for America. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old convicted armed robber who had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Mo., on April 23, 1967, pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969, in Shelby County (Tenn.) Criminal Court to the first degree murder of Dr. King. What are the disadvantages of shielding a thermometer? Ray began claiming that a man he had met in Montreal back in 1967, who used the alias "Raul," had been involved in the assassination. I think it was all planned.. After Byrd, the racist recruiter for the KKK died in 2010, Biden did his eulogy and praised the former Grand Kleagle as his mentor and dear friend.. Biden authored a crime bill that forced more black males into prison. He spent much of his time in Los Angeles volunteering at the Wallace campaign headquarters in North Hollywood. In 1935 the family suddenly left Alton and relocated to Ewing, Missouri, after police had started looking for Ray's father on a forgery charge. We do not believe that Jowers, or those he accuses, participated in the assassination of Dr. King. Those are about the only facts that arent in dispute. The New York Times. I don't know what his political affiliation was. What I DO know, is were he alive today, hed be wearing that Red Maggot Lobotomy cap and, be celeb He is the one who sits in leadership and is the most powerful person of a country. That claim prompted the family to push unsuccessfully for a new trial. Born on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois, was the eldest of George and Lucille Ray's nine children. When considered in light of all other available relevant facts, the trial's evidence fails to establish the existence of any conspiracy to kill Dr. King. [18] He bought a map of the city. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger, Adnan Syed: A Complete Timeline of His Trial, Appeal and Killing of Hae Min Lee. Dexter King called his family together, his brother Martin said in an interview, and urged them to file a civil suit against Jowers as a means of seeking the truth. Yes, the President is part of the political party. I dont know, but Im not assuming anything, and Im not going to make up a conspiracy, which seems to be a popular thing these days. On October 10, 1959, Ray and James Owens, an ex-convict, held up a Kroger store in St. Louis. According to the criminal justice system of the state of Tennessee, James Earl Ray fired the shot from the second-floor bathroom of the boardinghouse. No one saw the actual shot fired. And the total amount of damages you find for the plaintiffs entitled to is one hundred dollars. What Political Party was James Earl Ray part of? There is abundant evidence, Coretta King said after the verdict, of a major, high-level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband. The jury found the mafia and various government agencies were deeply involved in the assassination. The family accepted $100 in restitution to demonstrate they were not pursuing the case for financial gain, and they publicly stated that Ray, in their opinion, had nothing to do with the assassination. [15], On March 5, 1968, Ray underwent a rhinoplasty, performed by physician Russell Hadley. [28] He stayed briefly in Lisbon, Portugal, and returned to London. A bunch of self- centered people trashing Target stores? And contrary to the rumor's assertion, the 1999 civil case involving Jowers was widely reported by major news outlets at the time (including, as referenced above, the New York Times). [8] He was sentenced to twenty years in prison for repeated offenses. But he didnt have the FBI, the CIA, the Memphis police or the mafia.. Evidence does suggest that Ray had little stomach for the integration policies that were sweeping the country. The verdict came as the Justice Department was reinvestigating the case because of Jowerss claims and those of a former FBI agent who said he had found evidence in Rays car in 1968 linking him to Raul but had withheld it until 1997. I never saw those questions answered.. Ray pleaded guilty to the murder of King on March 10, 1969. But five years later, Randall defended a man who, authorities The FBI had just caught James Earl Ray at Heathrow Airport in London. Andrew Young, the former U.N. ambassador and Atlanta mayor who was at the Lorraine Motel with King when he was shot there, agrees. The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. However, dont expect the Democrats to give in without a fight. Three days later, Ray recanted his confession. The original mug shot of James Earl Ray included with the memo from the FBI to the Belleville News-Democrat. In 2000, the report authored by assistant attorney general Barry Kowalski found that Jowers had changed his story repeatedly and that neither he nor the ex-FBI agent were credible. He spent many hours volunteering at the campaign headquarters in North Cities were burning. Asked about the King familys suspicions, an FBI spokesman responded in a statement that the government has revisited the assassination four times: Findings from these reviews support the FBIs conclusion that James Earl Ray, acting alone, fired a rifle once, fatally wounding Dr. King on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel.. [38] The tests ultimately proved inconclusive. However, President Trump has pumped fear into the Democrats as his policies are benefiting Black America. By 1964, Democrats knew they were losing the battle against Black America. Recy Taylors gang rape was horrific. Kershaw convinced Ray to submit to a polygraph test as part of an interview with Playboy. Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? [20] He told the store owners that he was going on a hunting trip with his brother. And so after 50 years, the King assassination seems destined to remain mired in controversy, the subject of infinite debate over whether Ray was a lone gunman inspired by racism, a hired assassin aided by secret government forces, or simply a patsy manipulated to kill a civil rights hero. No vast sums of money were awarded (the Kings sought only $100), and Ray was not exonerated. His family believes James Earl Ray was framed. [42], In 1998, and continuing into 1999, Pepper represented the King family in a wrongful death civil suit against Memphis restaurant owner Loyd Jowers, whose restaurant was near the Lorraine Motel. But nothing changed afterward. Historical figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. tend to be the subject of complicated conspiracy theories, particularly when they are vectors for widespread societal change. ", And Gerald Posner, whose recent book, "Killing the Dream" made the case that Mr. Ray was the killer, said, "It distresses me greatly that the legal system was used in such a callous and farcical manner in Memphis. For both our family and the nation, Coretta King said after the verdict, we had to get involved, because the system did not work.. [37] A year was added to Ray's previous sentence, increasing it to a full century. Do you also find that others, including governmental agencies, were parties to this conspiracy as alleged by the defendant? In exchange for his plea, prosecutors did not seek the death penalty and Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison. In the U.S. Senate, Democrat Majority Leader, Robert KKK Byrd, was a former Grand Kleagle, a recruiter, for the KKK and opposed every policy benefiting Black America. James Lawson, a Memphis pastor and civil rights institution who helped mentor King, said he began visiting Ray in the Memphis jail in 1969 when Ray complained about being held in solitary confinement. Please attempt to sign up again. The U.S. government was sued and found culpable for the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., but the news media refused to report it. It pains my heart, said Bernice King, 55, the youngest of Martin Luther Kings four children and the executive director of the King Center in Atlanta, that James Earl Ray had to spend his life in prison paying for things he didnt do.. In the years following Ray's arrest, questions arose about his exact involvement in King's murder. Top of Page Whether youre a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, weve got you covered. He was trying to depart the United Kingdom for Angola, Rhodesia, or apartheid South Africa[30] using the falsified Canadian passport. In 1969, less than a year after the killing, his victims,... 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