The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., explained
Overview of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., by James Earl Ray.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Transcript
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., America's most influential civil rights leader, was fatally shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King had come to Memphis to help lead a march in support of striking sanitation workers. The assassination of MLK led to widespread outrage and civil unrest across the country and remains one of the most significant events in U.S. history to this day. Encyclopaedia Britannica details the assassination of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., was a Baptist minister and civil rights leader whose nonviolent social activism brought the issue of equal rights to the forefront in America in the 1950s. His hard work and peaceful protests earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. After an unsuccessful strike in 1966 for better wages and working conditions, the Memphis Sanitation workers went on strike again, after two sanitation workers were killed as a result of a malfunction of their garbage truck. The leader of a group of clergy asked King to join them in supporting the strike, and so King helped lead a march.
After violence erupted at the march, MLK returned to his home base in Atlanta. Despite death threats and illness, King felt compelled to help the sanitation workers, so he returned to Memphis and delivered one of his most inspiring and rhetorically brilliant speeches, known today as "The Mountaintop Speech."
Unbeknownst to King, a man named James Earl Ray had followed him to Memphis. Ray was a career criminal who had escaped from Missouri State Penitentiary a year prior. He was deeply racist, and many of his prison friends later recalled watching him fly into a rage anytime Martin Luther King, Jr., was on TV. Ray was a huge supporter of segregationist George Wallace, so much so that he had volunteered for Wallace's presidential campaign while on the lam in California.
On April 4, James Earl Ray checked into Bessie Brewer's rooming house, which gave him an unobscured view of King's room on the second floor of the Lorraine Motel. At 6:01 PM, Ray shot Martin Luther King, Jr., while King was on the motel's balcony.
The days following the assassination were filled with mourning and an overwhelming amount of rioting. Almost all major American cities experienced a rash of arson, looting, and violence.
As the nation grieved, the manhunt for James Earl Ray began. Ray fled Memphis, ditching his car in Atlanta and making his way to Canada. From there he flew to London and evaded capture until he was apprehended while attempting to buy a ticket to Brussels at Heathrow Airport. He had been on the run for over two months.
MLK's legacy lives on, inspiring many social justice groups and movements. His words and actions have influenced generations of people fighting for peace and equality. Every third Monday of January, we honor his memory with a national holiday.
Martin Luther King, Jr., was a Baptist minister and civil rights leader whose nonviolent social activism brought the issue of equal rights to the forefront in America in the 1950s. His hard work and peaceful protests earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. After an unsuccessful strike in 1966 for better wages and working conditions, the Memphis Sanitation workers went on strike again, after two sanitation workers were killed as a result of a malfunction of their garbage truck. The leader of a group of clergy asked King to join them in supporting the strike, and so King helped lead a march.
After violence erupted at the march, MLK returned to his home base in Atlanta. Despite death threats and illness, King felt compelled to help the sanitation workers, so he returned to Memphis and delivered one of his most inspiring and rhetorically brilliant speeches, known today as "The Mountaintop Speech."
Unbeknownst to King, a man named James Earl Ray had followed him to Memphis. Ray was a career criminal who had escaped from Missouri State Penitentiary a year prior. He was deeply racist, and many of his prison friends later recalled watching him fly into a rage anytime Martin Luther King, Jr., was on TV. Ray was a huge supporter of segregationist George Wallace, so much so that he had volunteered for Wallace's presidential campaign while on the lam in California.
On April 4, James Earl Ray checked into Bessie Brewer's rooming house, which gave him an unobscured view of King's room on the second floor of the Lorraine Motel. At 6:01 PM, Ray shot Martin Luther King, Jr., while King was on the motel's balcony.
The days following the assassination were filled with mourning and an overwhelming amount of rioting. Almost all major American cities experienced a rash of arson, looting, and violence.
As the nation grieved, the manhunt for James Earl Ray began. Ray fled Memphis, ditching his car in Atlanta and making his way to Canada. From there he flew to London and evaded capture until he was apprehended while attempting to buy a ticket to Brussels at Heathrow Airport. He had been on the run for over two months.
MLK's legacy lives on, inspiring many social justice groups and movements. His words and actions have influenced generations of people fighting for peace and equality. Every third Monday of January, we honor his memory with a national holiday.