He had confronted the risk of death, including a nearly fatal stabbing in 1958, and made its recognition part of his philosophy.

Background Death threatsĪs early as the mid-1950s, King had received death threats because of his prominence in the civil rights movement. Kennedy in 1963 and the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, and two months before the assassination of Robert F. The assassination was one of four major assassinations of the 1960s in the United States, coming several years after the assassination of John F. The allegations and the finding of the Memphis jury were later disputed by the United States Department of Justice in 2000 due to perceived lack of evidence. Based on the evidence, the jury concluded that Jowers and others were 'part of a conspiracy to kill King' and awarded the family the symbolic $100 they requested in damages. The accused government agencies could not defend themselves or respond because they were not named as defendants. During the trial, both sides presented evidence alleging a government conspiracy. During closing arguments, their attorney asked the jury to award damages of $100, to make the point that 'it was not about the money'. In 1999, the family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Jowers for the sum of $10 million. government, the mafia, and Memphis police, as alleged by Loyd Jowers in 1993. The King family and others believe that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy involving the U.S. He later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and to be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful. On March 10, 1969, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested on June 8, 1968, at London's Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States and charged with the crime. He was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7:05 p.m.

Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m.

Road Kill by S.R. Martin