The US will celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr on Monday, January 18, 2021, remembering all of the tremendous strides the activist-led in promoting civil liberties for all Americans. a right twist by the rifle from which it had been fired. When The John Birch Society first made Kings communist connections known almost 50 years ago, most people were skeptical. In March 2014, Brown won the Democratic primary for the position of Shelby County district attorney. PRPhotos. 15. As for how Welch was able to gather such damning information about King when the FBI files on the activist were classified, much has to do with the fact that there were many patriotic members of the FBI and other agencies who recognized that Welch and the society he founded constituted a trustworthy place to reveal what they knew. James Earl Ray was white. As an indication of just how much Robert Welch, the Founder of The John Birch Society, was on top of Kings communist connection, he wrote the following words for May 1968 John Birch Society Bulletin just two months after the FBI report, which had been classified as secret: During this career of a brief dozen years, [King] was constantly surrounded by, and associated with, Communists. (In the period 1963-64, there were 550 serious assaults inside Jefferson City, including hundreds of stabbings, which is why Time magazine called it the "bloodiest 47 acres in America." So Westberg, who was assigned to work in the kitchen at that time, figured a man could get in the bread box, have a tray of bread placed on top of him, and pass right out of the prison (the box also had a lid over the top tray of bread). Whatever noble goals King proclaimed, the subversive company he chose to keep severely neutralizes any good he may have aspired to and creates serious doubts about the sincerity of his stated mission. Stoner had trouble getting into the case, however, because no mainstream lawyer wanted anything to do with him. There were always convict clerks assigned to the reception area, and the fingerprints could have been switched--either because Ray had paid someone to do it, or, just as likely, because some convict wanted to help Ray beat the system. Ray had seven siblings. The explanation is much simpler. [18][24][25], This article is about the person. The damage to the clothing was consistent with the caliber [13], Brown is twice divorced and has two sons from his first marriage.[14]. That is why he could never have been a major drug dealer. assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.: The assassin: James Earl Ray, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Earl-Ray, James Earl Ray - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). 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. You would also know who had just gotten a shipment of dope. After the assassination, King's family did not trust the findings of the FBI, which had harassed the civil rights leader while he was alive. I spent virtually all of 1962 in solitary. In the year 1977, Ray escaped from the prison for the second time along with six other convicts from the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary located in Petros, Tennessee. And by the way, what is that, Magistrate, sir, with due respect. In a story published based on the test, Playboy claimed that Ray had committed the crime alone. On the first one he'd fallen and stunned himself; on the second he'd hidden in a ceiling. But after HBO conducted a televised mock trial about the assassination in 1993in which Ray gave his first public testimony and was found not guiltyJowers declared that hed been part of a conspiracy to kill King, and that Ray had been set up to take to fall. We knew that anytime you try to escape from a maximum-security prison you run the risk of being shot. "just to throw the public off. I've seen it happen again and again. Moreover, Jerry Ray and James Earl Ray are close. Riots erupted in Memphis; one person was killed and sixty were injured. None. (In the period 1963-64, there were 550 serious assaults inside Jefferson City, including hundreds of stabbings, which is why, An egregious example of shoddy workmanship is the book. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. Weeks before Kennedy was killed an informant quoted an NSRP member saying it would happen, and providing details that coincide with what did happen in Dallas. "[20] Earl Rays family had problems with the law enforcement ever since he was a child. Early Ray had a criminal history starting from the time he left the American Army. Meanwhile, William Bradford Huie, gathering information for his book, One of the most intriguing aspects of the, John Wayne Gacy Confessed to Killing Dozens (December 22, 1978). On April 4, 1967 a year to the day prior to Kings assassination King delivered his Beyond Vietnam speech at Riverside Baptist Church in New York City. McMillan, and through him Time magazine, are also the primary sources for the general belief that Ray financed his after-escape activities with money earned in Jeff City. Based on the results of a civil trial in 1999, Byrds speech would have almost necessarily have played an even more direct role if the verdict is to be accepted. For example, if you worked in the laundry you could charge people to starch and iron their clothes. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. In the early 1990s, he started suggesting that the government might be behind the assassination. Sometime before 4:00 p.m. on April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray parked his white Mustang on South Main Street and, under an assumed name, rented a room in the second floor rooming house directly above the grill. During the original taped conversation, Milteer also revealed a plot against Martin Luther King, one that involved an NSRP hit man named Brown. About two months later, Ray tried to escape, and he came to E-Hall. However, immediately following King's killing, U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark announced that the killing was the work of a lone assassin. Ireland. Therefore, I challenge your authority to hear it. Over the years, as book after book has been published on the King case, numerous conspiracy theories have been advanced: that the FBI was involved; that the CIA feared King would come out in opposition to the Vietnam War; that rival black leaders felt King's non-violent approach was a hindrance to black progress; that white supremacists wanted him out of the way for obvious reasons. (Several authors have said it was "common knowledge" in Jeff City that you could go to England and acquire an ID the way Ray did. There is an important flaw in that logic as well; the defendant was only sued for $100, which he was ordered to pay. Even after Ray died in 1998 from complications caused by hepatitis C, the family continued to assert there was, as Coretta King said in 1999, overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame.. Senator) that an investigation be conducted into the allegations. While on the lam in the 1950s, Ray lived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico under the pseudonym Eric Stalvo Galt. While there, Eric Galt ordered video equipment through the mail to start up a business as a small-time pornographer. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. it near 424 South Main Street, It is highly probable that James Earl Ray stalked Dr. King for a It is clear why tyrants wish to keep people from learning about Price and reading the powerful words he wrote defending freedom and Is Christianity the enemy of science? After the King shooting, one person living at the rooming house where the shot was fired described the assassin as heavy set with receding hair. Milteer told the informant that a scheme was in the works to kill President Kennedy. At that time, King was well aware of Levisons and ODells communist affiliations. But, having tried to escape from the maximum-security prison, we both had joined a small list of convicts who would be watched at all times by the guards. One day he walked away, and it was rumored he took $5,000 of state money with him. James Earl Ray, an escaped American convict, is arrested in London, England, and charged with the assassination of African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. On April 4,. Benny taught me how to type. If this self-seeking rabble-rouser is allowed to go through with his plans here, Washington may well be treated to the same kind of violence, destruction, looting, and bloodshed.1. Jerry was returned to solitary in 1963 for making zip-guns, and a few days later I was put in B-Basement on suspicion of stabbing an inmate who'd volunteered to help the guards search the Tag Plant for the rest of the zip-guns, which were never found. The New American magazine, published twice a month in print and daily online, is the essential news source for freedom-loving Americans. It was a theory she maintained until her death in 2006 that has so far never been proven. As the paper notes: Through Levisons influence, other subversives were attracted to SCLC [The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King helped found]. He got a 99-year prison sentence, which he served until he died of liver failure due to hepatitis C on . So, even if I conceded the possibility that Ray had sold drugs, it would have been in small quantities, and for a brief period of time. I don't recall that your name's ever been submitted, sir. He was first convicted for a burglary in California in the year 1949. I occasionally rented magazines from Ray, but other inmates usually had a larger selection, and better quality magazines. 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. The George Wallace Democrat of the 1960's aligns with the and is the Republican Party we know today. Ten years after his death, Rays brother John Larry Ray wrote a book along with writer Lyndon Barsten called Truth At Last: The Untold Story Behind James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. While he was still in Los Angeles, Ray had the desire to immigrate to Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) where a white minority regime declared independence from England in the year 1965. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. 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