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Newly found documents shed light on MLK's convicted killer

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alp227 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-30-11 07:21 PM
Original message
Newly found documents shed light on MLK's convicted killer
Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Recently discovered photos and letters are giving an inside look at the man convicted of assassinating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

On April 4, 1968, King was shot and killed by a sniper as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was trying to mediate a garbage workers' strike.

The celebrated civil rights leader's death led to race riots in dozens of cities and mourning around the world.

American James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the murder of the civil rights leader and was sentenced to 99 years in prison in March 1969. Ray died in 1998.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/30/tennessee.james.earl.ray.photos/index.html



"CNN Presents: Eyewitness to Murder -- The King Assassination" premieres on CNN Sunday at 7PM Eastern.
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xchrom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-30-11 07:31 PM
Response to Original message
1. Recommend
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former9thward Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-30-11 07:47 PM
Response to Original message
2. Yet another assassination which was blamed on a "lone nut"
I will never believe that as Ray was able to travel to Canada and England after the murder.
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JohnyCanuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-30-11 10:46 PM
Response to Reply #2
6. In a civil suit, a jury found MLK died as the result of a conspiracy
Edited on Wed Mar-30-11 10:58 PM by JohnyCanuck
In a civil suit brought by the King family against a suspected conspirator, Loyd Jowers, and unnamed co-conspirators, the jury found that MLK died as a result of a conspiracy involving agencies of the US government. Unsurprising the corporately controlled, gutless, mainstream media whores paid next to no attention to the trial itself or to revealing to their audiences the jury's verdict.


The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Was An Act of State
Book Review by David T. Ratcliffe


Dr. William F. Pepper was the King Family's lawyer-investigator in the 1999 Circuit Court trial in Memphis, Tennessee, King Family versus Jowers and Other Unknown Co-Conspirators. The Honorable James E. Swearengen (Division 4, judge presiding) stated to the jury after reaching its verdict:

"In answer to the question did Loyd Jowers participate in a conspiracy to do harm to Martin Luther King, your answer is yes. Do you also find that others, including governmental agencies, were parties to this conspiracy as alleged by the defendant? Your answer to that one is also yes."

The story of Martin Luther King's assassination, and the 1999 trial where the truth of this event was finally revealed in a court of law is now encapsulated in Dr. William F. Pepper's new book, released by Verso this month (note: this article was written several years ago /JC): An Act of State - The Execution of Martin Luther King. The dust jacket summarizes what many have intuitively known for more than thirty years:

"William Pepper, attorney and friend of Dr. King and the King family, became convinced after years of investigation that not only was Ray not the shooter, but that King had been targeted as part of a larger conspiracy to stop the anti-war movement, and to prevent King from gaining momentum in his promising Poor People's Campaign. Ten years into his investigation, in 1988, Pepper agreed to represent Ray. While he was never able to successfully appeal the sentence before Ray's death, he was able to build an air-tight case against the real perpetrators. In 1999, Loyd Jowers and co-conspirators were brought to trial in a wrongful death civil action suit on behalf of the King family. Seventy witnesses set out the details of the conspiracy in a plot to murder King that involved J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, Richard Helms and the CIA, the military, the local Memphis police, and organized crime figures from New Orleans and Memphis. The evidence was unimpeachable. The jury took an hour to find for the King family. But the silence following these shocking revelations was deafening. Like the pattern during all the investigations of the assassination throughout the years, no major media outlet would cover the story. It was effectively buried.
"Until now, the details, evidence, and personalities of all these nefarious characters have gone unreported. In An Act of State, you finally have the truth before you -- how the United States government effectively shut down one of the most galvanizing movements for social change by stopping its leader dead in his tracks."


http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/MLKactOstate.html


You can watch the closing summation to the jury by the King family lawyer, Dr. William Pepper, on Youtube in a series of 10 Youtube videos. In his summation Dr. Pepper reviews all the evidence the jury has heard over the course of the trial which lead them to the conclusion that MLK had been assassinated as a result of a conspiracy involving the defendant, Loyd Jowers, and US government agencies.

To watch on Youtube, click on this link and check for "MLK - Closing Statement" in the playlists on the right. Click on it, and the 10 videos should play continuously so you don't have to start each one individually. The expert testimony given at the trial by William Schaap on FBI and CIA disinfo and psyop techniques is also quite enlightening. Schaap's testimony is also included in its own playlist at the same link.
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Delphinus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-31-11 10:50 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. Thank you.
I *thought* I had heard something about this.
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JohnyCanuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-01-11 06:09 AM
Response to Reply #7
9. You're welcome. n/t
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Omaha Steve Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-30-11 07:52 PM
Response to Original message
3. MLK's last cause
Edited on Wed Mar-30-11 07:54 PM by Omaha Steve

K&R!



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Scuba Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-30-11 08:05 PM
Response to Original message
4. "Don't you just hate it when the libruls try....
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chollybocker Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Mar-30-11 09:53 PM
Response to Original message
5. You can view all the documents at the Shelby County site:
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No Elephants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-31-11 03:42 PM
Response to Original message
8. I didn't realize he had pleaded guilty. A number of years ago, Ray told MLK III "I
did not kill your father." or words to that effect. MlK III replied, "I believe you."

I saw the videotape.
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