In 1968, King was shifting his movement towards a coalition of poor African-Americans and whites. He was planning another march on Washington to be called the Poor People’s Campaign. He took time off from the planning, against the advice of some of his advisers, to support a sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis. The strike had begun after two workers were killed by a malfunctioning garbage truck. On April 3, King gave his famous “Mountain Top” speech which seemed to foreshadow his death. “I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you.” The next evening at 6:05 P.M., King and his entourage were preparing to go have dinner at a reverend’s house. King was on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. The motel had been chosen because it was a rare one that treated African-Americans fairly. King was staying in room 306 with Ralph Abernathy. Jesse Jackson and Andrew Young were there too. The shot hit King in the right cheek, shattering his jaw. It went on to break several vertebrae and severed his spinal cord. King was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead one hour later. The assassin was a career criminal. James Earl Ray had escaped from prison a year earlier. He was serving a sentence for robbery. Ray stalked King and when he learned he was staying in the Lorraine, he booked into a boarding house across the street. The shot came from the bathroom on his floor. Ray was eyewitnessed leaving with a bundle. Later, a bundle with a rifle, scope, and binoculars was found nearby. All the items had Ray’s fingerprints on them. Ray managed to get to Canada and then Great Britain, where he was arrested at an airport in London. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He soon recanted and proposed a conspiracy theory. However, Ray was a proven racist and fan of segregationist Gov. George Wallace. He became obsessed with King and may have thought his death would benefit Wallace. Also, fame may have been a motive. Several investigations (including one by Congress) have confirmed Ray as the assassin.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination
https://abcnews.go.com/US/assassination-martin-luther-king-jr/story?id=54095424
https://www.britannica.com/event/assassination-of-Martin-Luther-King-Jr/Conspiracy-theories
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