This Day in History: , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Is Assassinated.
April 4, 1968.
King was shot and killed
as he stood on the second-floor balcony
of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN.
The “apostle of nonviolence”
had gone to Memphis in support
of a sanitation workers' strike.
Widely recognized as the most prominent
face of the American Civil Rights Movement,
Dr. King was just 39 years old.
In a prophetic speech the night before his murder,
King stated that, “I’ve seen the promised land.
I may not get there with you.".
Petty criminal James Earl Ray was arrested
two months later and eventually
pleaded guilty to King's assassination.
After being sentenced to 99 years in prison,
Ray recanted his confession. Questions of a
conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King continue to linger.
King's death sparked riots in
more than 100 American cities.
On April 9, tens of thousands of mourners
lined the streets of Atlanta to pay their respects
on the day King was laid to rest