MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. ASSASSINATED IN MEMPHIS
Memphis, Tennessee (JFK+50) On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot as he stood on the balcony outside his room, #306, at the Lorraine Motel* here in Memphis.
A rifle bullet struck the civil rights leader at 6:01 p.m. Central time. The bullet entered the jaw severing Dr. King's spinal cord. After being rushed to a local hospital, Dr. King was pronounced dead. He was 39 years old.
After the shooting, police found a 30-06 Remington hunting rifle on the sidewalk about a block from the Lorraine Motel. The rifle was traced to James Earl Ray** who was caught about two months later in London, U.K.
Dr. King, who was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers, Dr. Ralph Abernathy and several other associates had been preparing to go to dinner at the home of Reverend Billy Kyles*** when the shot rang out.
Dr. Kyles later recalled...
"Martin was leaning over the railing, talking to Jesse (Jackson). The last person...he spoke to was Jesse. In the middle of their conversation I said, 'Hey, guys, come on, let's go.'
And he was still talking to Jesse, leaning over. I got about five steps and heard this noise...by the time I looked back, Martin had...fallen."
Several of Dr. King's associates heard the gunshot and believed it came from the back of Bessie Brewer's boardinghouse across the street from the motel.
*Lorraine Motel, located at 450 Mulberry Street, opened in 1945 and its guests over the years included Stak Records recording artists Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, Ethel Waters & Otis Redding.
**James Earl Ray (1928-1998) was born in Alton, Illinois. He served in the US Army in Germany at the end of WWII. Ray was convicted of the murder of Dr. King on March 10, 1969 and sentenced to a 99 year prison term.
***Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles (1934-2016) was born in Shelby, Mississippi. He became pastor of Monumental Baptist Church in 1959. Rev. Kyles was a founding member of the National Board of People United to Save Humanity and worked on Jesse Jackson's presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988.
JFK+50 NOTE
On June 6, 2008, I had the opportunity to attend a talk given by Rev. Kyles at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. Afterwards, I asked Rev. Kyles what kind of security Dr. King had at the Lorraine. I was shocked to learn that Dr. King had "no security." Rev. Kyles said that Dr. King normally had one security man with him but when he made the sudden decision to fly back to Memphis, the security man, who did not like to fly, was in the process of driving to Tennessee when Dr. King was killed.
SOURCE
"True Crime: Assassination," Time Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1994.
Rev. Billy Kyles & John White
National Civil Rights Museum
Memphis, Tennessee
June 6, 2008
Photo by Chad Smith
