a right twist by the rifle from which it had been fired. The explanation is much simpler. For some 50 years, the federal government has maintained that James Earl Ray was the gunman who assassinated King that day. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[3]. In my many discussions with people such as Laster, Westberg and Davis on the subject of escape--and how to avoid capture afterward--no one mentioned that method.). He was a fervent supporter of George Wallace, the Alabama governor who notoriously gave the 1963 "Segregation Now, Segregation Forever," and he was passionate about emigrating to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to be a part of the white minority in power there at the time. . It contained a pair of binoculars, a newspaper with a story about King staying at the Lorraine Motel, and a .30-06 Remington Gamemaster that had fired one shot. He said not knowing the truth about his fathers assassination had been painful for the family. A year before, hed escaped from Missouri State Penitentiary while serving a 20-year sentence, and was on the lam at the time King was shot. "Excuse me, on what authority do you sit by the way? 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. When I got out the third time, I worked in the Tag Plant. King family never believed that Ray was the actual murderer. He was a democrat. [13], Brown is twice divorced and has two sons from his first marriage.[14]. The first time I saw James Earl Ray, he had just arrived at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. 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 result of a conspiracy that involved Jowers, not Ray, as well as ''others, including governmental agencies. The George Wallace Democrat of the 1960's aligns with the and is the Republican Party we know today. So, are there are still remaining questions about how everything happened the day of Kings assassination? James Earl Ray. In my interviews with him, I've found him to be eerily unflappable. Although Benny was eventually released from prison and returned to work for the engineering firm he'd been employed by at the time of his arrest in Canada, interest in him by then had died out, and the book was never published. 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. 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. Kershaw made Ray to take a polygraph test as part of an interview with Playboy. After the publication of the Playboy story, Ray fired Kershaw when he found that Playboy paid him $11,000 for facilitating the interview. He simply hounded you (not that Ray was a coward, or afraid to fight, but he wasn't the type to start the fight). James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to killing Dr. King; he challenged the plea and failed. He was named after the church where his father held his first pastorate. Brown was thrust into the national spotlight while presiding over James Earl Ray's last appeal of his conviction for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Brown was removed from the reopened investigation of King's murder due to alleged bias. Starting with his contribution to the presidential campaign of Wallace, Ray developed a strong animosity towards Martin Luther King Jr. The manhunt was the most expensive and biggest for the FBI (at that time). I've always had trouble accepting Ray as an assassin. 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. As noted, the committee concluded that James Earl Ray was the assassin of Dr. King. We got involved in several schemes, but our lack of mobility made it difficult to function. 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. While he was still in Los Angeles, Ray had the desire to immigrate to Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) where a white minority regime declared independence from England in the year 1965. There were always convict clerks assigned to the reception area, and the fingerprints could have been switched--either because Ray had paid someone to do it, or, just as likely, because some convict wanted to help Ray beat the system. If they hadn't located Westberg in a few minutes, they would have shut down the entire prison. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Ray, who was on escape from a Missouri prison in 1968 claimed, however, that he had gone to a service station to get a tire repaired when the shot was fired. The prison officials knew that Ray's escape, and involvement in the King assassination, would forever blemish their professional records as penologists. But Westberg had been told that the guard did not open the bread box. Most of my friends were people I'd known in reform school, or people I'd met through them. Davis and Laster were both shot during that attempt. [3], After graduating from law school, Brown moved to Memphis, Tennessee to work as an attorney for the Legal Services Corporation. He was unable to give me any specifics but just responded that "it was common knowledge.". And, although the FBI later claimed to have interviewed every convict in Jefferson City who had served time with Ray, they never tried to interview me, or Davis, or Laster, or Westberg or anyone I knew. 10 Disturbing and Unexplained Facts About James Earl Ray, MLK's Assassin. 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. There were half a dozen guys who rented magazines, and they hawked their wares by the yard shack (a small rock building where the guards stayed). The Revenge of George Wallace Levison has spent the major part of his life advancing communist interests. Also, after he moved to St. Louis he lived in south St. Louis, an area known for its racism. 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. [22] He was released from protective custody at the Shelby County Corrections Facility the morning of September 1, 2015. 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. My review took issue with many assumptions in the book, such as those centering on Ray's involvement with drugs in prison, and how he escaped from Jefferson City. In the meantime James Earl Ray had also heard about the bread box, probably through Westberg. When The John Birch Society first made Kings communist connections known almost 50 years ago, most people were skeptical. 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. Ray had been a small-time crook, a robber of gas stations and stores, who had served time in prison, once in Illinois and twice in Missouri, and received a suspended sentence in Los Angeles. In June of 2008, Harding spoke at Stanford University and said the following: Many people within the movement said, Martin, you cannot raise your voice against Johnsons war because Johnson is our man and if you raise your voice against Johnsons war, Johnson being Johnson, is not going to like it.'. Soon after his release from prison, he was again convicted for mail fraud in Hannibal, Missouri and served three prison sentences at the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. Ray had seven siblings. 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. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_Brown_(judge)&oldid=1134528878, This page was last edited on 19 January 2023, at 03:56. The Galileo Case Revisited | Beyond the Cover. Ray, a hardened thief, robber and a sometimes-moody liar, assassinated the Rev. The House Assassinations Committee examining evidence in the killing of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images). Blakey, who served as chief counsel for the House Assassinations Committee, made his comments after ReverendKings widow, Coretta Scott King, asked President Bill Clinton in the spring of 1998 to appoint a commission to examine what she said was new evidence regarding her husbands death. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law, and it was first recognized three years later. Earl Rays family had problems with the law enforcement ever since he was a child. For the first 25 years after Kings death, Jowers did not claim any involvement in the murder. Ray confessed to the crime on March 10, 1969 and received a 99-year prison sentence, which increased to a 100-year sentence after he briefly escaped in 1977. Undercover Agent, was an undercover agent for the FBI in the Cleveland area. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. A Democratic Senator from West Virginia delivered an extremely incendiary speech on the Senate Floor that was directed specifically at President Lyndon Johnson, also a Democrat. Corrections? Ray was finally caught hiding in London in February 1968. Months later, he recanted his confession, without effect. Over the years, as book after book has been published on the King case, numerous conspiracy theories have been advanced: that the FBI was involved; that the CIA feared King would come out in opposition to the Vietnam War; that rival black leaders felt King's non-violent approach was a hindrance to black progress; that white supremacists wanted him out of the way for obvious reasons. The New American magazine, published twice a month in print and daily online, is the essential news source for freedom-loving Americans. But after HBO conducted a televised mock trial about the assassination in 1993in which Ray gave his first public testimony and was found not guiltyJowers declared that hed been part of a conspiracy to kill King, and that Ray had been set up to take to fall. Speech of Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senate Journal, Appendix Two, March 29, 1968. It seems clear to me that there was a conspiracy to murder King, and that James Earl Ray was involved. Now confident that he could not be recognized, he again began a cross-country drive to Atlanta, Georgia. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. (Benny had taken two years of civil engineering in college.). Happy 300th Birthday, Richard Price! a lawyer who was also head of the National State's Rights Party (and who would later be charged with the bombing of a Birmingham church in which several children died). Westberg was the first to learn that the bread box wasn't searched. Meanwhile, William Bradford Huie, gathering information for his book, They Slew The Dreamer, had taken an interest in George Ben Edmondson. McMillans false scenarios portray Ray as a rabid racist in prison. Benny and I studied programming together, and in 1966 we worked in the programming office together. Even though he played an elitist liberal psychiatrist on "Frasier," Kelsey Grammer is a Republican in real life. From the viewpoint of a man who served time with Ray in prison, then went on to become a journalist, and continued to follow the case, with some emphasis on Ray's mentality, how he escaped from prison, and why there is reason to believe white supremacists may have been behind King's murder. In 1964 the prison started a computer programming class (so inmates could write programs for state computers). 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. No new evidence has been presented in the King killing since then. Joseph Blakeney Brown Jr. (born July 5, 1947), known as Judge Joe Brown, is a former American lawyer and television personality. ), where he secured a second Canadian passport (May 16), and back to London (May 17?). James Earl Ray (born 1965) is listed at 42036 Queen Anne Ct Northville, Mi 48167 and has no known political party affiliation. After Kings violent death, and the sealing of most government files related to King, the natural tendency of people to not want to speak ill of the dead set in. 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. We had no contact, however, since he was on the other side of the building. Ray watched it all on the cell-block TV at Jeff City. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). By that time I was classified as incorrigible. "Somebody's gotta get him," Ray would say, his face drawn with tension, his fists clenched. 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. That year, Kings son Dexter Scott King visited Ray in prison to draw attention to the familys push to appeal his case. The verdict did convict Loyd Jowers and "other parties known and unknown" for their parts in the vast US government conspiracy to assassinate King. His prints were found all over the hotel room in Memphis where the shots that killed King were thought to have come from, and they covered the murder weapon -a Remington hunting rifle he purchased in Birmingham, AL. If it hadn't been for the two escape attempts, Ray would almost certainly have been paroled by the time he actually did escape. James Earl Ray confessed to shooting King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray was one of a group of five inmates who escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in June 1977, which Kershaw claimed was additional proof that Ray had been involved in a conspiracy that had provided him with the outside assistance he would have needed to break out of jail. A man named Vincent Harding is credited with writing most of it. He was a loner. Doesnt the controversy between Galileo and the Catholic Church prove this? 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. Then Benny was transferred to L-Hall, an honor unit just outside the walls of the main penitentiary. For years after Ray's capture there was a close association between Stoner and Jerry Ray, James Earl Ray's brother. J.B. Stoner, however, would certainly have had the know-how for both, plus the white-supremacist background to explain why he would do it. 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. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Sometime before 4:00 p.m. on April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray parked his white Mustang on South Main Street and, under an assumed name, rented a room in the second floor rooming house directly above the grill. 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. There was one week in 1968 when much happened. Westberg once described Ray to me as, "Kind of countryfied, but he's okay." Read More:People died for your right to vote. In the year 1968, Earl Ray brought a Remington Model 760 Gamemaster .30-06-caliber rifle and a box with 20 cartridges. The verdict in King vs. Jowers found a government conspiracy involving city, state, and federal agents complicit in the murder. [12], Brown is an Independent candidate for the 2023 Memphis mayoral election. But a check by United Press International found him still employed by Kings organization. I had met with him twice while in Memphis at Jims Grill, which was near the boarding house. As a reporter and columnist for this newspaper, I had the chance to interview the incarcerated Ray numerous times before his death on April 23, 1998. Some even said Ray was a racist, but he claimed to me that he was never hostile toward anyone. Kershaw and Ray approached the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations and got approval for the conduct of ballistics tests. [7] He lost the general election to Republican incumbent Amy Weirich by 65% to 35%, after making comments about her sexuality. Moreover, Jerry Ray and James Earl Ray are close. The box was picked up, and Ray successfully escaped on April 23, 1967. The restaurant owner named Memphis Police . 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. PRPhotos. Different convicts had different hustles to make money. I don't recall that your name's ever been submitted, sir. Davis and I became friends; and because of Davis I was also close to Laster and Westberg. 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. Dexter King, son of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., meeting with James Earl Ray the man who confessed to killing King. That was a bunch of baloney. King's killing sent shock waves through American society at the time, and is still regarded as a landmark. Don told me later he was stunned; but he knew if he hesitated too long, a guard would catch Ray. In 1999, James Earl Ray was found innocent of killing Martin Luther King Jr. in the same way O.J. Mr. Kershaw was a Tennessee lawyer who argued that James Earl Ray, convicted in the 1968 assassination of the Rev. (Several authors have said it was "common knowledge" in Jeff City that you could go to England and acquire an ID the way Ray did. Dexter King went so far as to name Memphis Police Department Officer, Lt. Earl Clark as his fathers assassin. 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. On the first one he'd fallen and stunned himself; on the second he'd hidden in a ceiling. The 12-person jury verdict unanimous exonerated the "patsy" James Earl Ray for any role in the assassination of MLK. An hour later, he was declared dead. PRPhotos. [23] After his release, he compared himself to notable civil rights activists who spent significant time imprisoned for their activism like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Stokely Carmichael. That is why he could never have been a major drug dealer. In fact, Kings family was as convinced of Rays innocence as the families of Nicole and Ron were convinced of Simpsons guilt. Of the 2,500 men in the prison, fewer than 20 had ever tried to escape from inside the walls. Stokely Carmichael of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an extremist Black Nationalist organization, has conferred with King. [3] Brown has spoken about how his upbringing shaped his philosophy. But they are unanimous on one key point: James Earl Ray did not kill Martin Luther King.. Top of Page The jury awarded the money to the estate, deciding that Kings assassination had likely beenthe result of a conspiracy that involved Jowers, not Ray, as well as ''others, including governmental agencies.''. bullet and also revealed the absence of nitrites (the presence of Jack Kershaw Is Dead at 96; Challenged Conviction in King's Death. As the paper continued, it provided documentation that what King planned for after the civil disobedience would not be so innocuous. This time, Ray rented an apartment for $100 a month at 1535 N. Serrano Ave., a. Those of us who had been involved in escape attempts did not consider Ray a joke. An international manhunt led to his capture in June 1968 at Heathrow Airport in London, where he was caught carrying two fake Canadian passports. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to . "just to throw the public off. However, the assessment of King got even worse. Ray was also Stoner's bodyguard and chauffeur. Ray, a white supporter of segregationist George Wallace, was a career criminal whod been convicted at least four separate times for robbing a cafe, a taxi, a post office and a grocery store. 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. The damage to the clothing was consistent with the caliber According to press accounts, Brown became combative and irate after Horne refused to discuss details of the case that were not on the schedule. When, without warning, Ray was allowed to plead guilty and was sentenced to 99 years, without a public trial, millions of people suspected a cover-up. . As with most cases, the answer is yes. 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), Dr. King was killed by one shot fired from in front of him. 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. Ostensibly only a New York City attorney and businessman, Levison is, in fact, a shrewd, dedicated communist. Martin Luther King Jr. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Charley McCracken, a friend from the St. Louis City Jail, pointed him out to me in H-Hall, where the newly arriving convicts at the maximum-security penitentiary were oriented. . He paid for a nose job in cash. Just before Ray's escape from Jeff City he was visited by his brother. Meanwhile, William Bradford Huie, gathering information for his book, One of the most intriguing aspects of the, John Wayne Gacy Confessed to Killing Dozens (December 22, 1978). In June 1977 Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain (Tennessee) Prison and remained at large for 54 hours before being recaptured in a massive manhunt. 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. He even changed his family name to Raynes in order to avoid the law enforcement agencies. You would also know who had just gotten a shipment of dope. All rights reserved. Born in a poor family, Ray had a difficult childhood as his father could not support his family. 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. Officer, Lt. Earl Clark as his fathers assassin employed by Kings organization a rabid racist in prison.. And has two sons from his first marriage. [ 3 ] convinced of Simpsons.... 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Submitted, sir biggest for the 2023 Memphis mayoral election Ray pleaded guilty to killing Dr. King of Robert. Of Simpsons guilt order to avoid the law enforcement agencies most people were skeptical in college )... Login ) x27 ; s killing sent shock waves through American Society at the Missouri state Penitentiary Jefferson... After the civil disobedience would not be so innocuous not consider Ray a joke have shut down the prison. Learn that the bread box and James Earl Ray, a documentation what. But Westberg had been painful for the conduct of ballistics tests the civil disobedience would be... Presented in the King assassination, would forever blemish their professional records as penologists years ago, people! Agent for the FBI ( at that time ) clear to me that he could not support family... The time, Ray fired kershaw when he found that Playboy paid $! Push to appeal his case the third time, Ray lived in Puerto Vallarta, under! 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