The possibility of conspiracy and the after-effects of King’s murder.
In His Own Words
“I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane — there were six of us — the pilot said over the public address system, ‘We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked and to be sure that nothing would be wrong on the plane, we had to check out everything, carefully. And we’ve had the plane protected and guarded all night.’
“And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
“Well, I don’t know what will happen now; we’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you . . .”
– from King’s speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” April 3, 1968 http://www.afscme.org/about/kingspch.htm
Marked Man
J. Edgar Hoover put King on his enemy’s list and considered him unfit to receive warnings of death threats. The 1989 BBC television documentary, “Inside Story: Who Killed Martin Luther King?” raised a number of unanswered questions about the case. Allegations of collusion between government, organized crime, and local law enforcement officials have fuelled ongoing belief in a conspiracy.
Hour of Reckoning
As long as Martin Luther King was leading Southern blacks in non-violent demonstrations designed to secure civil rights in individual cities, the FBI monitored but did not greatly interfere with him. After all, it was smart to grant long-overdue concessions to blacks in America for no other reason than to head off potentially disruptive activity. But when Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1964, his view of his mission began to change radically. No longer was he merely an American phenomenon. Around the globe, people looked to him to address wider issues on the world stage.
When King began to assert his moral leadership on the issues of peace and economic justice, he became a real threat. The forces of the U.S. government, the media, liberal whites who had once donated generously to the SCLC, and even his own friends and colleagues were arrayed against him. The FBI stepped up its illegal surveillance of King — there was literally nowhere he could go to escape — and went several steps further by overtly harassing him and manipulating the media against him.
J. Edgar Hoover repeatedly developed reports stressing King’s Communist ties, when no such ties existed. The evidence of King’s infidelities — which did exist — was peddled to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlanta Constitution, and several Negro newspapers. All declined to print it. It was an FBI operative who sent the letter (see Lesson 4) and tape to the King household, urging him to commit suicide or face exposure. Hoover also had reports of King’s infidelities and alleged Communist activities sent to Pope Paul VI before his meeting with King in 1964 and to the Nobel Peace Prize nominating committee before their announcement of King as a winner in 1964.
The amount of money spent on the government’s anti-King activities is staggering, running into the millions of dollars. King had begun to expose the corporate elite and had made a vital connection between poverty, racism, and war. He had started to speak out on the world stage about the need to redistribute wealth and end the Vietnam War. Naturally, he would not be tolerated much longer.
Beginning in 1965 — until his death in 1968 — King was subject to deep depressions and prescience of his own death. He told his colleagues on many occasions that Abernathy was to succeed him in the SCLC and left instructions as to how he wanted the movement to proceed after he was gone. He said on more than one occasion that he was “treading in dangerous waters” and that he was trying to brace himself for what lay ahead.
Conspiracy theories abound. In the book, Orders to Kill, Dr. William F. Pepper — who was James Earl Ray’s (the man convicted of killing King) attorney and an associate of Dr. King’s — sets forth an extremely detailed and well-documented case which implicates the FBI, the Mafia, and local law enforcement officials in the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- To read more about ballistics evidence in the James Earl Ray case, visit http://www.courttv.com/trials/mlk-civil/112399_ctv.html
- To read an article speculating on King’s assassination, visit http://metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/08.07.97/mlkj-9732.html.
Pepper asserts that James Earl Ray was coerced into his guilty plea by his first lawyer. What we do know is that, three days after he pled guilty, Ray petitioned the court to set aside his plea and grant him a trial. He was denied and had consistently — until his death in prison in 1998 (http://www.cnn.com/US/9804/23/james.earl.ray.reax/) — asserted that he was not the one who fatally shot Dr. King.
Because he was denied redress in the courts, Pepper negotiated a deal whereby he would take Ray’s case directly to the American people in a televised trial. Thames Television of London and Home Box Office (HBO) agreed to air the trial, which would be unscripted and feature real evidence, witnesses, judge, and counsel before an independent jury. It was conducted according to Tennessee law and criminal procedure.
The show aired in April 1993. James Earl Ray was found not guilty. The verdict was virtually ignored in the media, with the exception of The Today Show. Ray remained in prison. There are still FBI records about King that will not be unsealed until 2027.
A Closer Look
If, indeed, any part of these theories surrounding Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination (as well as the Kennedy assassinations) is true, then the abuse of power by the conspirators is staggering and the misinformation deliberately dished out to the American people through the media is mind-boggling.
When Dr. King was killed, what died with him was the last serious effort to transform American society for the benefit of all her citizens. If any part of these conspiracy theories is true, then representative government in America is what was really assassinated in the 1960s. If any part of these conspiracy theories is true, faith in government by the people is shaken to the very core.
Assignment: Assassination and Loose Ends
Write down your thoughts about the possibility of conspiracy in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Was he the most dangerous black man in America? Why? If he were alive today, dealing with the same issues in the same way, would he be a target for murder? Why?
Visit http://www.courttv.com/trials/mlk-civil/112399_ctv.html and read the evidence considered in the article. If you have not done so already, visit http://www.mlkday.com/theman_index.html and read the text of the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. Do you think King had a premonition of his own death?
