How Did The Assassination Of Martin Luther King Assassination

Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in the evening of April 4, 1968 while exiting his hotel room. The news of King’s assassination left the African-American community shocked, disappointed and outraged. The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. triggered various responses from the black and white communities. The black community’s main response was wide spread violence throughout the United States resulting in demises and military involvement, while a few decided to hold peaceful protests in King’s memory. Many in the white community celebrated, while others feared for their lives. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination fashioned a divide amongst the black and white populations, destroying lives, property, and necessitating the government’s involvement

In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s hometown of Atlanta, sixty percent of the Atlanta’s population received the news of King’s assassination by 8 p.m. on April 4. The following morning by 8 a.m. ninety-seven percent of the city’s population knew of Kings murder (Burns, Rebecca p. 23). Police Chief Herbert Jenkins learned of King’s death while in a meeting about defusing potential riots come summer. Jenkins first response was to send officers to the Kings home in Vine City and to King’s parents home in Collier Heights (Burns, Rebecca p. 31). Jenkins implemented the antiriot plan he created, to prevent the anticipated summer riots, into action when he received news of the Washington D.C. riots (Burns, Rebecca p. 33). Jenkins was under the assumption that because there were riots occurring in Washington D.C. that there would be riots in Atlanta as well and wanted to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. When Mayor Ivan Allen learned of the Washington D.C. riots, he promised President Johnson that riots would not occur in Atlanta (Burns, Rebecca p. 34). The Atlanta authorities had plans in place to prevent any violent retaliations that may arise form King’s