Martin Luther King’s death

Something that really calls my attention in the texts about Martin Luther King was his death. His assassination it is not clear to me. Although there is information available on the topic, it does not fully explain King’s death. For this reason I wanted to explore the Martin Luther King’s murder, finding information about the details of his death, who was the assassin and why he was killed.

Martin Luther King is known because of his fight for the civil rights of the black people and also because of his famous speech “I have a dream”. If he was a good leader, why he was to be murdered? Sometimes life isn’t fair, and this case is a complete example about intolerant people. I am going to explain the unknown details about his death.

King was murdered at the age of 39, on April 4 of 1968, in Motel Lorraine’s balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. A bullet entered in his cheek at 6.01 pm, and he was pronounced dead at 7.05 pm. The assassin was James Earl Ray who used the name John Willard to rent a room in Bessie Brewer’s in front of the Lorraine Motel.

James Earl Ray had gathered information from newspapers and news to know about Martin Luther King. In addition he bought a binocular to see when Martin Luther King appeared in the Motel. When finally Martin Luther King arrived, Ray shot him. After the shot, James Earl Ray hid the rifle, the information and the binocular and left the room. When the police found the evidence, they organized an intensive search to capture him. 

Ray escaped and for two months he hides in different countries. Finally on June 8 he was captured by the police at the London Heathrow Airport. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray said that he had killed Martin Luther King to become famous. A time later, he said that other man had conspired with him in the murder of King, but this idea hasn´t been proved.

King’s murder scattered manifestations and protests in all the country. Some people died or got injured because of this. Furthermore, buildings and areas were destroyed. The most important black race leader in the US had died because of the not intolerance regarding about other race that wasn’t the white race. This situation was enough evidence to continue fighting for the black people’s civil rights.

I think Martin Luther King was an incredible person and his death is a really sad event. He died just because a racism problem in the society. Here I attach a video about King’s death and its effects on people.

About Martin Luther King's death... Do you think that James Earl Ray acted alone or the King’s murder was a conspiracy?

Thanks for reading me and I hope your comments! :)