Ten years after his death, Rays brother John Larry Ray wrote a book along with writer Lyndon Barsten called Truth At Last: The Untold Story Behind James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. One thing never mentioned about Ray's time in Jefferson City is the fact he had a nearly exemplary conduct record, with the exception of the two escape attempts. Indeed, to them the perception is reality. (Emphasis in original.). Later in life his pleas for a trial were encouraged by some civil-rights leaders, notably the King family. In no uncertain terms, Byrd was calling on Johnson to stop Kings march on D.C. As one example, Dan Smoot, a former FBI agent, was a steadfast anti-Communist who became associated with The John Birch Society and wrote for the societys American Opinion and The Review Of The News magazines. Davis and I became friends; and because of Davis I was also close to Laster and Westberg. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. King's convicted killer, James Earl Ray, pled guilty to his murder, received a life sentence, and died in prison of natural causes 29 years later. As the paper continued, it provided documentation that what King planned for after the civil disobedience would not be so innocuous. Shortly before his seventh birthday, in 1935, his father passed a bad check and the Rays fled to Ewing, Missouri, where they changed their name to Raynes to avoid . Doesnt the controversy between Galileo and the Catholic Church prove this? As noted, the committee concluded that James Earl Ray was the assassin of Dr. King. Ostensibly only a New York City attorney and businessman, Levison is, in fact, a shrewd, dedicated communist. B. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. I've seen it happen again and again. Why did James Earl Ray have cancer? 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. Stoner campaigned for several political offices as a Southern Democrat in order to promote his white supremacist agenda. The box was picked up, and Ray successfully escaped on April 23, 1967. Some of the books written about the assassination describe him as a major drug dealer in Jefferson City, which is ludicrous. In order to hang onto your drugs, people had to know that you would kill them without hesitation. Although Ray had two attempted escapes on his record, he did not have nearly as much heat on him as Westberg. "[11], Responding to a bar discipline complaint filed regarding the contempt incident, Brown declared himself unable to adequately defend himself as a result of health issues including type II diabetes, hypertension, and stress. A mock trial of Ray in which he was represented by Dr. William Pepper was later telecast on TV to criticize the government for denying him the trial. A staunch segregationist, Earl Ray could not stomach the integration policies of King. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. King still tried to hide ODell in his organization until July, 1963, when he accepted ODells resignation. As King put it, ODells release was not because of connections between ODell and the CPUSA but because of the emotional public response. Ray replied that he did not commit the crime. I had met with him twice while in Memphis at Jims Grill, which was near the boarding house. He was a loner. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. 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. He escaped from the prison hiding in a truck that was transporting bread from the prison bakery. In 1999, James Earl Ray was found innocent of killing Martin Luther King Jr. in the same way O.J. Ray spent the rest of his life in prison and suffered with kidney and liver ailments in his last years. In March 2014, Brown was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee, and charged with five counts of contempt of court and getting "verbally abusive" during a child support case overseen by Magistrate Harold Horne. But they are unanimous on one key point: James Earl Ray did not kill Martin Luther King.. He said that another person he met in Canada by the name Raoul was the actual person who plotted the murder and ultimately pulled the trigger. He was sentenced to 99 years at the State penitentiary. To believe that the King family was motivated exclusively by publicity, one must believe that all of its members were involved in selling out the truth of their loved ones assassination for three figures. "doesn't know anything.". At the same time I was getting more involved in art, and my thoughts were turning away from escape and toward trying to make parole. James Earl Ray could easily have placed complete faith in Stoner. 1. So, are there are still remaining questions about how everything happened the day of Kings assassination? The introduction to the paper observed that since 1956, King had occupied a prominent role in the drive for equal rights for Negroes in the Untied States. It continued by noting, The course King chooses to follow at this critical time could have momentous impact on the future of race relations in the United States, and for that reason this paper has been prepared to give some insight into the nature of the man himself as well as the nature of his views, goals, objective, tactics, and the reason therefore., The papers summary of Kings planned Washington Spring project is contrary to the image of King painted by most historians as a man who employed only the most peaceful means. Warden Swenson of the Jeff City prison immediately issued an edict that convicts could no longer correspond with editors. After he was recaptured, Ray hired attorney Jack Kershaw to promote his claim that he was not the person who actually shot King. Findings on Martin Luther King, Jr. Just before Ray's escape from Jeff City he was visited by his brother. However, the assessment of King got even worse. James Lawson, a Memphis pastor and civil rights institution who helped mentor King, said he began visiting Ray in the Memphis jail in 1969 when Ray complained about being held in solitary. Using their logic, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. should be attributed to a Democratic U.S. When prominent people die violently, they become martyrs in some peoples eyes, and there is a reluctance on their part even to consider anything that blemishes the heroic image they have formed of the individual. In fact, Kings family was as convinced of Rays innocence as the families of Nicole and Ron were convinced of Simpsons guilt. In the course of our conversation, I pressed him for details regarding drug sales or any other illegal activities in which staff and/or inmates might have been involved. As an indication of just how much Robert Welch, the Founder of The John Birch Society, was on top of Kings communist connection, he wrote the following words for May 1968 John Birch Society Bulletin just two months after the FBI report, which had been classified as secret: During this career of a brief dozen years, [King] was constantly surrounded by, and associated with, Communists. James Earl Ray Sirhan Sirhan Jack Ruby. The ballistics tests proved to be inconclusive and Ray remained in prison. When I tried to mail my review to The Star, the prison officials refused to allow it to leave the prison. Very few conservatives are aware of the pledge's socialist origins. PRPhotos. There were no cellblock TVs in Jefferson City in 1963 and 1964. The manhunt was the most expensive and biggest for the FBI (at that time). I occasionally rented magazines from Ray, but other inmates usually had a larger selection, and better quality magazines. assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.: The assassin: James Earl Ray, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Earl-Ray, James Earl Ray - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Corrections? 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. "[10], In August 2015, Brown served five days in the Shelby County Jail after having been held in contempt of court in March 2014. In the year 1968, Earl Ray brought a Remington Model 760 Gamemaster .30-06-caliber rifle and a box with 20 cartridges. Who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968? James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 - April 23, 1998) was an American fugitive convicted for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. At the Tag Plant I met Jerry Ward Davis, an Oklahoman who'd been shot in 1959 after kidnapping several guards (along with Rollie Laster and Ronnie Westberg) during an attempted escape that involved the use of zip-guns. McMillans false scenarios portray Ray as a rabid racist in prison. [12], Brown is an Independent candidate for the 2023 Memphis mayoral election. Declassified FBI Paper Reveals Martin Luther Kings Sexual Aberrations, Martin Luther King Day Based on MLKs Image, Not Reality, Martin Luther King: The Celebration of a Myth. On January 26, 1976, My findings are that there is nothing whatsoever to substantiate any conclusion that James Earl Ray financed either his escape or his activities after his escape through any means while he was an inmate at the Missouri State Penitentiary. Dexter and his family too believed that he did not commit the crime and urged the government to grant a new trial to Ray. He knew we viewed Ray as a not-too-bright hillbilly. The day after a stabbing, for example, virtually everyone in the prison who is considered "solid" would know who had done the stabbing. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick OConnor, the factsor a lack of themdidnt add up. While on the lam in the 1950s, Ray lived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico under the pseudonym Eric Stalvo Galt. While there, Eric Galt ordered video equipment through the mail to start up a business as a small-time pornographer. His body was cremated and his ashes were flown to the land of his forefathers, viz. Then, the (U.S.) House Assassinations Committee spent two years and $2.5 million investigating the case. James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to killing Dr. King; he challenged the plea and failed. Raised in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, Brown graduated as valedictorian[full citation needed] from Dorsey High School. For years after Ray's capture there was a close association between Stoner and Jerry Ray, James Earl Ray's brother. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. 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. But it turned out that rather than discharging this key Red, he had transferred and promoted ODell to a higher post within Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Some people had trouble, for example, believing Ray had arranged his international escape all by himself, since he had a track record of getting caught for more minor crimes. King was shot by Earl Ray when the former was standing in the balcony of his motel room. But, having tried to escape from the maximum-security prison, we both had joined a small list of convicts who would be watched at all times by the guards. 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. There was, however, some question in our minds about Ray's coordination. Ray, whose previous history as a criminal was notable only for its ineptness, fled to Canada after the killing, assumed a new identity complete with credentials, then fled to England where he was arrested trying to fly out to another country. In King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown, there were 70 witnesses called; twelve jurors found in favor of the King family, which held a press conference after the verdict. It would later be learned that Ray's classification card contained erroneous fingerprints, which were initially distributed nationally. McMillan is the primary source for the widespread belief that Ray was a major drug dealer in Jeff City; that he smuggled large sums of money out of prison; that he used that money to finance his travels after his escape. The prosecutors have enough efficient evidence in establishing guilt against James Earl Ray concerning the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. First, James Earl Ray was in close enough vicinity of the Lorraine Hotel to successfully fire a clear shot to kill Dr. King from only a block away. the result of a conspiracy that involved Jowers, not Ray, as well as ''others, including governmental agencies. Guys told me he would hound you relentlessly if you owed him a quarter, but he wouldn't threaten you with violence. After Ray was arrested for the assassination of Martin Luther King, it was widely believed that those erroneous prints were proof that the King conspiracy began in Jefferson City, and that someone employed at the prison was involved. [18][24][25], This article is about the person. Simpson was found guilty of killing his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman in a civil trial. The massive publicity surrounding Benny's capture caused Gold Medal Books to contact him and ask him to write 20,000 words of autobiographical data, so they could bring out an "instant" paperback book about him. Tray after tray of bread would be stacked into a large box, and then the box would be loaded onto a pickup truck and hauled to the farms. Read More:People died for your right to vote. He was transferred to the maximum security facility called Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility in Nashville which had hospital facilities. James Earl Ray lowers his head as State Safety commissioner Greg O'Rear, white hat, and Highway Patrol Maj. Mickey McGuire, dark glasses, lead him to prison in Nashville, Tenn., March 11, 1969. Although Westberg liked Ray, he never brought him around us. Levison has spent the major part of his life advancing communist interests. Law enforcement agencies believe that he started indulging in criminal activities as he could not support himself financially. But what do you know about James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King? By that time I was classified as incorrigible. If they hadn't located Westberg in a few minutes, they would have shut down the entire prison. Each day the prison's bakery would bake enough bread to feed not only the 2,300 men at Jeff City, but also the convicts housed at Church Farm and Renz Farm (two satellite honor farms, where most of the prison's food was grown and raised). USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Mr. Kershaw was a Tennessee lawyer who argued that James Earl Ray, convicted in the 1968 assassination of the Rev. 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). The same NSRP member said there were plans to kill Martin Luther King. As President Ronal Reagan once wrote to former New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson, who had sent a letter to Reagan urging the president not to sign the bill for a holiday honoring King, On the national holiday you mentioned, I have the reservations you have, but here the perception of too many people is based on an image, not reality. Ray, was found by bloodhounds about eightmiles away from the prison shortly after the escape attempt. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations, she said. He volunteered for Wallaces campaign and was very disappointed when Wallace could not win the campaign. Whatever noble goals King proclaimed, the subversive company he chose to keep severely neutralizes any good he may have aspired to and creates serious doubts about the sincerity of his stated mission. Early Ray fired a single shot by standing in the bathtub of his shared room and balancing the rifle on a window ledge. (In the period 1963-64, there were 550 serious assaults inside Jefferson City, including hundreds of stabbings, which is why Time magazine called it the "bloodiest 47 acres in America." Even though he played an elitist liberal psychiatrist on "Frasier," Kelsey Grammer is a Republican in real life. Ray pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. 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. He shot. Now he is presumed to be guilty until he proves his innocence. James Earl Ray From the viewpoint of a man who served time with Ray in prison, then went on to become a journalist, . Westberg was involved in several more escape plots, but he had so much heat on him he could never personally use the routes he discovered. [3], After graduating from law school, Brown moved to Memphis, Tennessee to work as an attorney for the Legal Services Corporation. His first prison break happened in 1967, when he escaped the Missouri State Penitentiary on a bread truck before fleeing to Canada. All the seven prisoners who escaped from the prison were recaptured within two days and sent back to the prison. They might not have been involved in the murder, McMillian observes of the FBI, but I wish people knew the really shameful things that they did.. In September 1961, I tried to escape and pulled six months in E-Hall, a 100-year-old building whose third floor was for solitary confinement. On June 11, 1977, while housed at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, TN, Ray and five other inmates escaped. Some have indicated that King vs. Jowers was nothing more than a promotional stunt. All three bore the fingerprints of an escaped convict named James Earl Ray. Rays fingerprints were the only ones found on the gun, and there were no witnesses who had seen him with Raoul during the nine months they supposedly knew each other (Rays description of Raoul also changed a few times). In a story published based on the test, Playboy claimed that Ray had committed the crime alone. Benny Edmondson thought it was hilarious that William Bradford Huie thought he was "Raoul." Early life [ edit] He said not knowing the truth about his fathers assassination had been painful for the family. 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. Davis and Laster were both shot during that attempt. The House Assassinations Committee examining evidence in the killing of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images). I've been amazed over the years at the naivet of authors who have written about Ray's activities in Jeff City; the things they put forth as facts just simply couldn't be true. But even if Ray had help, the evidence strongly pointed to him pulling the trigger. 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. In 1997, Kings son Dexter met Ray in prison and asked him whether he had killed his father. He was first convicted for a burglary in California in the year 1949. In 2011, the only irony greater than the left blaming right wing rhetoric for the violence perpetrated by an individual having no affiliation with the right, might be that the rhetoric of some very powerful people on the left may have had a direct role in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. That is, of course, if one applies the logic of the left. The paper quotes Kings statement explaining his strategy: To dislocate the function of a city without destroying it can be more effective than a riot, because it can be longer lasting, costly to society, and not wantonly destructive., Kings admission that the strategy he planned for Washington, D.C, would be costly to society is startling in view of a fact noted in The Urban Institute report, Our Changing City, which observed: 1950 also marked the start of the white exodus to the suburbs. PRPhotos. Earl Rays family had problems with the law enforcement ever since he was a child. [4] While on the bench he was known for his sometimes unusual sentences, such as, sentencing a child molester to confess to his church congregation and ordering a drug trafficker to apologize in a newspaper letter.[5]. When ODells position as a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party was revealed in 1961, King supposedly fired him. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law, and it was first recognized three years later. On July 19, he returned to U.S. and the following March he pleaded guilty to murdering King. James Earl Ray had traveled to Montreal while on the run, and claimed that he'd met a man named "Raoul" in Montreal, and that Raoul had furnished him with money, and eventually masterminded the King assassination-using Ray as the fall-guy. His fathers name was George Ellis Ray and his mothers name was Lucille. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at wmass@thenewamerican.com. Westberg, in turn, liked James Earl Ray. The facts tend to be the same, G. Robert Blakey, a law professor at Notre Dame University, told me on April 8, 1998 during an interview as I worked as a columnist for The Tennessean. He is the one who sits in leadership and is the most powerful person of a country. Laster made several more desperate attempts to escape, including one attempt to saw out of death row (during which a guard captain was blinded). On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the citys firefighters. During the four-week trial in Memphis, a 12-person jury heard testimony from over 70 witnesses; but not Jowers, who didnt testify because there were no criminal charges at stake. The shot that killed Dr. King was fired from the bathroom window at the King said he liked the idea. It was a theory she maintained until her death in 2006 that has so far never been proven. "Somebody's gotta get him.". [16] Brown surrendered to the Shelby County Sheriff on August 27, 2015, to serve his five-day sentence at the Shelby County Corrections Facility in Memphis. He was a founder and the long-time chairman of the National States' Rights Party as well as the publisher of its newsletter, The Thunderbolt. The New American magazine, published twice a month in print and daily online, is the essential news source for freedom-loving Americans. Anyone who remembers the looks on their faces, their resolve and their anger would have to concede that it would have required nothing short of cold hard facts. He is a male registered to vote in Wayne County, Michigan. There is an important flaw in that logic as well; the defendant was only sued for $100, which he was ordered to pay. On the first one he'd fallen and stunned himself; on the second he'd hidden in a ceiling. The George Wallace Democrat of the 1960's aligns with the and is the Republican Party we know today. Then other inmates would blame Don for Ray's capture. A consequence of Kings alleged involvement in those riots was that it caught the attention of some powerful politicians. 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