HAVANA, Cuba.- On April 4, 1968, a hate shot ended the life of Martin Luther King, a Baptist minister who forever changed the history of the struggle for the rights of the Afro-American community.
Starting in 1955, Luther King became the leader most visible of the civil rights movement, from where he spoke out peacefully, but energetically, against the Vietnam War, the abuses and the inequalities that afflicted the black population. For his work to eradicate racial segregation in the United States, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
The afternoon he was killed, Luther King was in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, to support the 1,300 garbage collectors who had been on strike for two months, demanding a wage readjustment. Several protests had taken place and the conflict promised to continue, despite the escalation of tensions.
In support of the workers’ strike, the minister paused the organization of a massive march in Washington DC, scheduled for April 22, 1968, to attend the one that would take place in Memphis on the 6th. While the leader organized the itinerary, was observed by his assassin at a short distance.
In an establishment opposite the modest Lorraine Hotel, where King was staying, a young white man, who registered as John Willard, carefully chose a room that allowed him to observe the building where his victim was staying.
After a long day of work, after six in the evening, Martin Luther King and his assistants were preparing to have dinner. From a bathroom overlooking the minister’s balcony, a Remington rifle with a telescopic sight was aimed at the heart of the respected religious leader.
Only one shot was heard, which sounded like a stick of dynamite. The large-caliber bullet embedded in his spinal cord, causing copious blood loss. The body was rushed by ambulance to Saint Joseph Hospital, just two kilometers away. He arrived dying at the emergency room and nothing could be done. An hour after the attack, Martin Luther King was pronounced dead.
His assassination sparked a wave of protests and racial confrontations in the United States, leaving 43 dead, 25,000 arrested, countless injured, and property damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Memphis police were unable to find the killer, an ex-con whose real name was James Earl Ray. They found his rifle, binoculars and other belongings, including the cartridge from the projectile that killed the peace leader. Thanks to the fingerprints they managed to find his identity, but his capture was a merit of the Scotland Yard police, who arrested him at the London airport, more than two months after the murder.
Several blunders committed by Ray during his escape, as well as the testimonies of people who knew him, suggest that the subject did not plan the attack. Powerful people took care of it, in addition to guaranteeing him resources—money, false passports—for his escape.
James Earl Ray confessed to his crime in exchange for evading capital punishment, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He died without disclosing any illuminating information, but in 1999 the King family won a civil lawsuit proving there was a conspiracy to assassinate the minister. The face of the deal was a Memphis landlord named Loyd Jowers, who claimed at trial that he received $100,000 for arranging the assassination of Luther King.
The case also revealed that government agencies were involved, but no other details are known to date.
