Martin Luther King Assassination

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Tragically, at the young age of thirty-nine years old, a great man was murdered by a known racist who was a career criminal. Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was a well-known civil rights leader who had come to Memphis, Tennessee to support a sanitation workers’ strike and gave his last speech on the night of April 3, 1968, at Mason Temple Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Unfortunately, the next day at 6:00 p.m. Doctor Martin Luther would be murdered by a single shot on the balcony of his hotel room ("Martin Luther King Jr Assassination - Black History - HISTORY.com", 2010). James Earl Ray was serving time for armed robbery when he escaped from the Missouri State Prison a year before the assassination. On April 3, 1968, James Earl Ray arrived in Memphis, Tennessee. …show more content…

Unfortunately, on April 4, 1968, at 6:00 p.m. Doctor King, exited his second-story hotel room and walked onto the balcony of the hotel. As he turned towards his room, a single shot rang out, striking Doctor King. Sadly, there was nothing anyone could do to revive him, and Doctor King was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. (Saferstein, 2014). This unfortunate event devastated a multitude of people. Tragically, upon hearing of the death of Doctor King riots broke out in over one-hundred cities from Washington DC to Chicago ("The Assassination of Martin Luther King - a summary - History in an Hour", 2011). On April 9, 1968, Doctor Martin Luther King was laid to rest in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, tens of thousands of people lined the streets to pay their respects ("Dr. King is assassinated - Apr 04, 1968 - HISTORY.com",

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