Introduction
The assassination of Luther King is one of the conspiracy theories that has sparked a lot of controversy. Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights leader was killed on April 1968 using a sniper bullet. King was killed while on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel located in Memphis. The conspiracy theory regarding the death of Martin Luther King Jr. does not have sufficient evidence that would make it possible to peg the death of King on particular individuals. This is because some of the evidence to assert the claims do not have sufficient backing as they are different from the actual facts.
Discussion: Arguments
The proponents of this conspiracy theory argue that Earl Jones was responsible for the death of King while many say that the US government was largely responsible for his death. It was alleged that Earl had killed King from a bathroom window that was behind the rooming house. However, it was later established that the gunfire that resulted in King’s death must have come from a window that was much higher than the rooming house where James had been staying. The argument that Ray was responsible for the murder of King is not valid. This is because there was no strong physical evidence that could back up the claim that James Earl Ray was responsible for the assassination of King. If the investigations showed that the angle used to shoot King was from a higher position than the bathroom window was alleged to have shot King from then this position is false and frees Ray from the accusation. The sole reason why Ray spent his entire life in prison was because he pleaded guilty to the murder charges preferred against him (Stein 90). He was coerced into making a false confession, so even though he retracted his statement he was never released. He remained in prison until his death. In any case, Dr. King’s family believed that Ray was innocent. In fact, they were able to win the court, which was aimed at proving that the death of Martin Luther King Jr. had been a conspiracy.
Solomon Jones, King’s driver during his visit in Memphis said that he had seen someone run into the bush that was opposite the motel. However, King’s aides said that they had not seen anyone in the bushes where Ray was alleged to have gone into hiding. Some of the witnesses were Andrew Young, the former U.N ambassador, Reverend Bernard Lee and Chauncey Eskridge who was an attorney. U.S investigators later concluded that what Jones had seen was probably police officers heading towards the scene of the incident (Dyson 102). After some years, Jones further changed his testimony and said that a man came to his bar from the back door and handed him a rifle to hide. In fact, he changed his version of the story two times and even died without taking a definite stand. The fact that Jones changed his statement twice shows that he was not certain about what happened during King’s death. The statements given by King’s aides and police officers contradicted his position, hence this theory was dismissed.
Another theory that was staged by Pepper, the lawyer in charge of the Earl’s case said that intelligence agents had taken a photo of the real killer while spying on King. Pepper confessed that he had never seen the photo of the shooter, but they were confident it was not Ray. Actually, the fact was that the intelligence agents were not there during the death of King given that they had been on the roof of the motel two days earlier. The finger prints of Earl Ray were found on a binoculars and rifle, which was found close to the scene of the incident and which he had bought six days prior to King’s shooting (Pepper 72). Given that there was no photo it cannot be determined with certainty whether Earl is guilty. Additionally, the fingerprints on the rifle and binoculars do not suffice as evidence because they could have been planted at the scene of a crime.
The other popular belief was that the US government had killed King. It was suspected that the government in Tennessee and Memphis might both be involved in the assassination of King. The government would have had a motive to kill Martin Luther Jr. In order to stop him from engaging in the campaign of alleviating poverty and suffering amongst the poor. What is even more intriguing was the insistence of the US government that the jury had made a mistake to convict Earl, yet they did not offer any substantial argument for their claim. Despite the fact that James Earl Ray had been a criminal the federal government still insisted that he was innocent of the charges regarding King’s assassination. Since, 1955 King had engaged in civil rights movements. For instance, in 1955, he held a peaceful protest for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It is speculated that the other reason the federal government may have killed King was to prevent black supremacy. King had been extremely vocal about issues, and it was feared that the blacks would become extremely powerful (Dyson 80). The US government felt that the superiority of the whites was threatened by the activities of Martin Luther King Jr. thus; they would be able to secure their position by eliminating King. As such, there is no concrete evidence that one can use to determine with certainty the real assassins of King.
Conclusion
I believe these conspiracy that Ray was the assassin of King is not true. This is because it is evident that the allegations leveled against Ray did not have a solid backing. At some point, it was alleged that he was the man who ran to the bush after the shoot out yet in actual sense it was discovered that the police officers who had conducted a search in the bush had not found a trace of anyone. Moreover, the family of King and the US government were convinced that Ray was innocent. The US government, especially must have had a legitimate reason for insisting that Ray was innocent. This shows that there were certain secrets the federal government was hiding from the public. Additionally, there is no concrete evidence that the US government assassinated King, rather this is just a popular speculation.
Work Cited
Dyson, Michael E. April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Death and How It Changed America. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2008. Print.
Pepper, William F, and William F. Pepper. An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. London: Verso, 2003. Print.
Stein, R C. The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Children's Press, 1998. Print.
