Updates? In 1962, when King mentioned to Levinson that he was thinking of adding an administrative assistant to his staff, Levinson recommended ODell, who was then head of SCLCs New York office. The prison officials knew that Ray's escape, and involvement in the King assassination, would forever blemish their professional records as penologists. Almost everyone felt sure the government would want to avoid a never-ending search for conspirators in the King case, and would accomplish that by presenting its evidence at Ray's trial. Christopher S. Bond (now U.S. In 1997, King told Ray personally that both he and his family believed him. Benny taught me how to type. The New American magazine, published twice a month in print and daily online, is the essential news source for freedom-loving Americans. The New Times article also asserted that Jerry Ray, if he were involved, might have been duped himself-might have thought he was setting up something other than an assassination. the result of a conspiracy that involved Jowers, not Ray, as well as ''others, including governmental agencies. No new evidence has been presented in the King killing since then. 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. Most recently, after Ray's death in . Kershaw and Ray approached the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations and got approval for the conduct of ballistics tests. On January 26, 1976, Time magazine devoted four pages to the King assassination, drawing heavily on material from McMillan's book, which was scheduled for publication later that year: In 1963 and 1964 Martin Luther King was on TV almost every day, talking defiantly about how black people were going to get their rights, insisting that they would accept with nonviolence all the terrible violence that white people were inflicting on them, until the day of victory arrived, until they did overcome. His fathers name was George Ellis Ray and his mothers name was Lucille. The paper stated that King had announced that this action would disrupt the normal course of business and, in fact, close down the nations capital. In the year 1952, he served a two year prison sentence for the armed robbery of a cab driver. He later joined the American army at the end of the Second World War and served in Germany. Westberg once described Ray to me as, "Kind of countryfied, but he's okay." Assassination. This tribunal on a General Sessions Court's authority is insufficient to establish you. Brown was sentenced to five days in jail,[7][15] but was later released on his own recognizance. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to . For years convicts had dreamed of escaping in the bread box, but everyone assumed it was searched in the truck tunnel (that they would poke steel rods through the garbage, for example). King was shot by Earl Ray when the former was standing in the balcony of his motel room. As a former judge here, we have a rule in the 30th Judicial Districtit says every single Magistrate Referee has to be unanimously approved by every Circuit, Chancery, and Criminal Court Judge. In her autobiography, Coretta Scott King wrote how glad she was that both Dexter and young Martin Luther King, III, had a chance to go with their father on . All rights reserved. Dwight Lewis served in a variety of roles at The Tennessean, including reporter and columnist, from 1971 to 2011. This claim got some support from the 1978 special congressional committee which opined that Ray might not have acted alone in the assassination as it required meticulous planning. The FBI paper then named another communist whose name is very familiar to those who have read articles about Kings communist connections in The New American, its predecessor magazine, American Opinion, and the monthly bulletins of The John Birch Society, the parent organization of both publications. Ray watched it all on the cell-block TV at Jeff City. He guided King in deciding whether to accept or reject public appearances. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. it near 424 South Main Street, It is highly probable that James Earl Ray stalked Dr. King for a Brown later worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Their goal was to cover all aspects of true crime: Read More, Contents Copyright 1998-2020 by Crime Magazine | J. Patrick O'Connor Editor | E-mail CrimeMagazine.com, Designed by Orman. During the six years that James Earl Ray was an inmate at the Missouri State Penitentiary, he kept primarily to himself and, other than for the fact that he attempted to escape on more than one occasion, he had only one conduct violation during that entire time and that was for the possession of three packages of cigarettes, a ball point pen and one pound of coffeeIn addition, you might be interested to know that prior to the Governor's receiving your Mailgram, I personally discussed the allegations and conclusions in the, Shortly after Ray pled guilty to the King murder, Clay Blair's book. The day after the trial ended, Coretta King held a press conference in Atlanta to praise the decision. Declassified FBI Paper Reveals Communist Associates of Martin Luther King, UN Biodiversity Beijing-Wall Street Convergence. He was immediately extradited to USA. But almost immediately after her husbands assassination, she suspected that the FBI, which had investigated the murder, was involved in it. Ray was finally caught hiding in London in February 1968. Jerry began to follow my lead, and that became a source of friction among me, Laster and Westberg. But even if Ray had help, the evidence strongly pointed to him pulling the trigger. Could Chinas Petroyuan Give Rise to a New World Energy Order? This should have been driven home years ago when a surreptitious tape recording was made of J.A. The 20-page paper, which was classified as secret, was reviewed by the FBI/JFK Task Force in 1994, which denied the release of its contents. If you saw the movie Boyz n the Hood, that was the way I grew up. Stoner is the following: Over the years, state and federal authorities have come to suspect that Stoner's violent rhetoric cannot be dismissed merely as fascist ravings. The Galileo Case Revisited | Beyond the Cover. Kelsey Grammer. William Francis Pepper (born August 16, 1937) is a U.S. lawyer formerly based in New York City who is most noted for his efforts to prove government culpability and the innocence of James Earl Ray in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Pepper has also been trying to prove the innocence of Sirhan Sirhan in the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. King's killing sent shock waves through American society at the time, and is still regarded as a landmark. James Earl Ray, (born March 10, 1928, Alton, Illinois, U.S.died April 23, 1998, Nashville, Tennessee), American assassin of the African American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. In one instance, the FBI sent him a tape that allegedly contained audio of him having an affair. In renouncing his guilt, Ray raised the spectre of a conspiracy behind Kings murder but offered scant evidence to support his claim. Godspeed." Likewise, this statement is attributed (without sourcing) to Limbaugh in 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America. As with most cases, the answer is yes. "[10], In August 2015, Brown served five days in the Shelby County Jail after having been held in contempt of court in March 2014. Each year, the third Monday in January is a celebration to commemoratethe life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., the tireless civil rights activist who was gunned down in Memphis, TN, in 1968. Mr. Kershaw was a Tennessee lawyer who argued that James Earl Ray, convicted in the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Weirich responded: "Its a sad day that someone that out of touch with reality considers himself a viable candidate for one of the important positions in Shelby County. The Ray brothers, however, are too unsophisticated to have pulled off the assassination of King, and Ray's subsequent escape to England. But Westberg had been told that the guard did not open the bread box. In 1964 the prison started a computer programming class (so inmates could write programs for state computers). I've always had trouble accepting Ray as an assassin. "[20] Two weeks later, after Kennedy had been slain in Dallas, Milteer told the same informant, "everything ran true to form," and the right wing was in the clear because Lee Harvey Oswald . James Earl Ray was a racist, but there was circumstantial evidence that a businessman in St. Louis had established a $50,000 bounty for Kings death.. His first prison break happened in 1967, when he escaped the Missouri State Penitentiary on a bread truck before fleeing to Canada. His law license was entered on the disability inactive list (suspending his ability to practice law in Tennessee), and the discipline case was placed on indefinite hold until such a time as Brown is healthy enough to face the complaint. James Earl Ray was born in a poor family on March 10, 1928 in Alton, Illinois, USA. . Because of the 1959 incident, Jerry had so much heat on him that if the guards lost sight of him for even a few minutes, they panicked. Spouse/Ex-: Anna Sandhu Ray (m. 19781993), siblings: Carol Pepper, Franklin Ray, Jerry Ray, John Larry Ray, Marjorie Ray, Melba Ray, Suzan Ray, place of death: Nashville, Tennessee, United States, See the events in life of James Earl Ray in Chronological Order, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25196041/james-earl-ray, http://yourblackworld.net/2012/06/23/james-earl-rays-map-used-get-out-prison-being-sold-history-teacher/, https://www.ebay.com/itm/JAMES-EARL-RAY-Mugshot-Glossy-8x10-Photo-Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Print-Poster-/202043577078, https://shannonyarbrough.com/tag/james-earl-ray/, http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-james-earl-ray-the-yankee-who-shot-mlk-burning-in-hell-now. Benny was fascinated with the idea of escaping, although he never actually tried while inside the walls. The incident was incredibly damaging to the cause of King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Just before Ray escaped from prison in Tennessee he was visited by his brother. The facts are these. Ray, although not personally motivated by racism, comes from a rural background where blacks are not highly regarded. King family never believed that Ray was the actual murderer. Read More:People died for your right to vote. It was important for the government to have a lone killer-since blacks across the nation were rioting, and proof of a white conspiracy to kill the black civil-rights leader would have caused a racial explosion. When I got out the third time, I worked in the Tag Plant. Just before Ray's escape from Jeff City he was visited by his brother. He is a male registered to vote in Wayne County, Michigan. In that speech, none other than Robert Byrd pointed to the Memphis riots and the violent consequences as a warning to Johnson not to allow the marches King was planning on Washington in the coming weeks. In the early 1990s, he started suggesting that the government might be behind the assassination. The cells that I was associated with in Cleveland were continually being asked to raise funds for Martin Luther Kings activities. She also said, Mr. 9 A staff report, An Analysis of James Earl Ray's Trip to New Orleans, December 15-21, 1967, appears in XIII Appendix to the HSCA-MLK hearings (hereinafter referred to as staff report: New Orleans trip). He knew we viewed Ray as a not-too-bright hillbilly. Ray said he wasnt in the room when King was shot, but he was unable to consistently explain where he had been, or keep other important details in his story straight. While taking dancing classes, he was attracted to the presidential campaign of George Wallace. 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. We got involved in several schemes, but our lack of mobility made it difficult to function. This list details the strange, unstable life of James Earl Ray, a man who confessed to and then spent his life denyingthe murder of Martin Luther King Jr. James Earl Ray confessed to shooting King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. The coffee was contraband. There it was once again: A belief from the Rev. [3] Brown has spoken about how his upbringing shaped his philosophy. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection, John McAdams (The John F. Kennedy Assassination Information Center), Evidence of Ray's contact with his brothers, 1967-68, Motive with respect to John and Jerry Ray, The backgrounds of Kauffmann and Sutherland, How to File a FOIA Request for Archival Records. He was a democrat. He believed that King was a serious threat to the dominance of white people in the USA and wanted to stop him through any means. 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