Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. In the hours and days after the Tucson shootings, the left wing media in America attempted to blame the Tea Party and right wing rhetoric for the deaths of six and the injuries of thirteen. About two months later, Ray tried to escape, and he came to E-Hall. She told a congressional subcommittee that while she was a member of the Communist Party, she knew Martin Luther King to be closely connected with the Communist Party. Brown joined The American Opinion Speakers Bureau, and while on the lecture circuit, she told audiences that King was the hero of Americas Communists. [3], After graduating from law school, Brown moved to Memphis, Tennessee to work as an attorney for the Legal Services Corporation. For some 50 years, the federal government has maintained that James Earl Ray was the gunman who assassinated King that day. He was of Irish, Scots, and Welsh ancestry. During this period James Earl Ray was most noticeable as a guy who rented out magazines on the yard. Now he is presumed to be guilty until he proves his innocence. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick OConnor, the factsor a lack of themdidnt add up. Indeed, a former agent from the FBIs field office in Atlanta said the bureaus tracking of King was second only to the way they went after Jimmy Hoffa. In 1975, a group of former FBI agents called on Congress to investigate this harrassment. Stokely Carmichael of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an extremist Black Nationalist organization, has conferred with King. Therefore, I challenge your authority to hear it. I have respect for the King family, however, as thousands of people converge on Memphis and in other places on Wednesday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of MLKs death, the King family is dead wrong. Manhunt in the mountains: James Earl Ray and the Brushy Mountain Prison breakout of 1977, How The Tennessean covered Martin Luther King Jr.'s death in its pages, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. "Somebody's gotta get him.". He was found to be legally liable and a sum of $100 was accepted by Kings family in restitution. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/james-earl-ray-30416.php. As a loner, it would be impossible for Ray to deal large quantities of drugs, because one of the cliques would simply rob him, and there wouldn't be much he could do, alone, against a clique with a dozen members. Now confident that he could not be recognized, he again began a cross-country drive to Atlanta, Georgia. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. Even though he played an elitist liberal psychiatrist on "Frasier," Kelsey Grammer is a Republican in real life. It stated that King had allied himself with black nationalist groups that planned to seize the initiative and escalate the nonviolent demonstrations into violence. It continued: King has met with black nationalists and attempted to solicit their support. Meanwhile, William Bradford Huie, gathering information for his book, They Slew The Dreamer, had taken an interest in George Ben Edmondson. 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. While taking dancing classes, he was attracted to the presidential campaign of George Wallace. Jerry was returned to solitary in 1963 for making zip-guns, and a few days later I was put in B-Basement on suspicion of stabbing an inmate who'd volunteered to help the guards search the Tag Plant for the rest of the zip-guns, which were never found. Even after Ray died in 1998 from complications caused by hepatitis C, the family continued to assert there was, as Coretta King said in 1999, overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame.. But a check by United Press International found him still employed by Kings organization. James Earl Ray did it, case closed! He was first convicted for a burglary in California in the year 1949. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration King said he liked the idea. Among the first to rear his head in Ray's defense was J.B. Stoner, 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). On July 19, he returned to U.S. and the following March he pleaded guilty to murdering King. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration In 1977, New Times magazine suggested that Jerry Ray and "Raoul" were one and the same. There are records of Ray receiving plastic surgery in Los Angeles about a month before Kings murder in Memphis. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. In 1997, King told Ray personally that both he and his family believed him. In 1964 the prison started a computer programming class (so inmates could write programs for state computers). His first prison break happened in 1967, when he escaped the Missouri State Penitentiary on a bread truck before fleeing to Canada. After buying the rifle, he came back to Atlanta where he came to know that King was planning a return trip to Memphis, Tennessee. Ray was finally caught hiding in London in February 1968. But even if Ray had help, the evidence strongly pointed to him pulling the trigger. All three bore the fingerprints of an escaped convict named James Earl Ray. Assassination. Along with the rifle, he also bought a 2X-7X scope to aim the target well. Although it is often. "[21], Brown was warned that he would be held in contempt before these comments. Most recently, after Ray's death in . "[10], In August 2015, Brown served five days in the Shelby County Jail after having been held in contempt of court in March 2014. Its not clear when Coretta Scott King, widow of King, began to believe in Rays innocence. Ray fled from the scene immediately and could not be located immediately by the police. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old convicted armed robber who had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Mo., on April 23, 1967, pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969, in Shelby County (Tenn.) Criminal Court to the first degree murder of Dr. King. 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). bullet and also revealed the absence of nitrites (the presence of [13], Brown is twice divorced and has two sons from his first marriage.[14]. 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. Search for the Killer (April 4- June 8, 1968), the Young & Morrow rooming house Examine the rooming house where James Earl Ray stayed on the day of the assassination, the bathroom window documented as the site of the fatal shot, evidence recovered at the scene, and evidence leading to the capture and arrest of James Earl Ray. Later in life his pleas for a trial were encouraged by some civil-rights leaders, notably the King family. Said Byrd: Yesterday, Mr. President, the Nation was given a preview of what may be in store for this city by the outrageous and despicable riot that Martin Luther King helped to bring about in Memphis, Tenn. After the publication of the Playboy story, Ray fired Kershaw when he found that Playboy paid him $11,000 for facilitating the interview. Then other inmates would blame Don for Ray's capture. William Francis Pepper (born August 16, 1937) is a U.S. lawyer formerly based in New York City who is most noted for his efforts to prove government culpability and the innocence of James Earl Ray in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Pepper has also been trying to prove the innocence of Sirhan Sirhan in the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. In the year 1977, Ray escaped from the prison for the second time along with six other convicts from the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary located in Petros, Tennessee. In June 1977 Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain (Tennessee) Prison and remained at large for 54 hours before being recaptured in a massive manhunt. He is a male registered to vote in Wayne County, Michigan. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. The first time I saw James Earl Ray, he had just arrived at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. It was a theory she maintained until her death in 2006 that has so far never been proven. 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. 10 Disturbing and Unexplained Facts About James Earl Ray, MLK's Assassin. Stoner certainly wasnt the only radical white supremacist running around, however-just the best known. He is a former Shelby County, Tennessee Criminal Court judge and a former arbiter of the arbitration-based reality court show Judge Joe Brown. Ten years after his death, Rays brother John Larry Ray wrote a book along with writer Lyndon Barsten called Truth At Last: The Untold Story Behind James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The Revenge of George Wallace For the first 25 years after Kings death, Jowers did not claim any involvement in the murder. Moreover, Jerry Ray and James Earl Ray are close. He is a male registered to vote in Wayne County, Michigan. In order to hang onto your drugs, people had to know that you would kill them without hesitation. So, are there are still remaining questions about how everything happened the day of Kings assassination? Two weeks later, after Kennedy had been slain in Dallas, Milteer told the same informant, "everything ran true to form," and the right wing was in the clear because Lee Harvey Oswald . James Earl Ray could easily have placed complete faith in Stoner. Each year, the third Monday in January is a celebration to commemorate the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., the tireless civil rights activist who was gunned down in Memphis, TN, in 1968. Benny was fascinated with the idea of escaping, although he never actually tried while inside the walls. In her autobiography, Coretta Scott King wrote how glad she was that both Dexter and young Martin Luther King, III, had a chance to go with their father on . Read More:How The Tennessean covered Martin Luther King Jr.'s death in its pages. King was one of the worst enemies my people ever had. Her reference to my people was to her race, since she was black. Ray, was found by bloodhounds about eightmiles away from the prison shortly after the escape attempt. King family never believed that Ray was the actual murderer. By that time I was classified as incorrigible. The Rays would have had many opportunities to meet racists. 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. I went to Memphis to deliver a rifle to this man called Raoul, Ray told me. Hunter Pitts ODell, former National Committee member of the CPUSA, was employed by SCLC. For years after Ray's capture there was a close association between Stoner and Jerry Ray, James Earl Ray's brother. On Feb. 17, 1997, while working for The Tennessean, I sat in the office of ReverendKings youngest son, Dexter, then chairman, president and chief executive officer of the King Center for Non Violent Social Change in Atlanta, as he told me why his family felt Ray should have a new trial. [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. In March 2014, Brown won the Democratic primary for the position of Shelby County district attorney. Such a conclusion must be drawn from a premise that the King family was willing to publicly, wrongfully, and unjustifiably vindicate Ray in order to accuse others simply to gain notoriety. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to . McMillan, and through him Time magazine, are also the primary sources for the general belief that Ray financed his after-escape activities with money earned in Jeff City. In King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown, there were 70 witnesses called; twelve jurors found in favor of the King family, which held a press conference after the verdict. As a former judge here, we have a rule in the 30th Judicial Districtit says every single Magistrate Referee has to be unanimously approved by every Circuit, Chancery, and Criminal Court Judge. He was about five years older than me. Brown claimed that the sentence was excessive, and that he should have only been fined; Dan Michael, the Shelby County Juvenile Court chief magistrate that found Brown in contempt, responded that "This is not Hollywood. There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta King said at a press conference in 1999, according to The King Center. Weeks before Kennedy was killed an informant quoted an NSRP member saying it would happen, and providing details that coincide with what did happen in Dallas. Kershaw made Ray to take a polygraph test as part of an interview with Playboy. The 20-page paper, which was classified as secret, was reviewed by the FBI/JFK Task Force in 1994, which denied the release of its contents. But it turned out that rather than discharging this key Red, he had transferred and promoted ODell to a higher post within Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Benny Edmondson thought it was hilarious that William Bradford Huie thought he was "Raoul." When ODell was again exposed, King went through the same routine of announcing his dismissal. For years convicts had dreamed of escaping in the bread box, but everyone assumed it was searched in the truck tunnel (that they would poke steel rods through the garbage, for example). PRPhotos. That was a bunch of baloney. He escaped from the prison hiding in a truck that was transporting bread from the prison bakery. Wait Who? He also founded his own white supremacist party. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations, she said. It was even rumored that on the second attempt he'd gotten tired of hiding out, and had deliberately set off an alarm so he could get caught and get something to eat. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. Yes, the President is part of the political party. Thorpe Menn, then book editor of The Star, sent it to me to review. 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. Ray told me several times, and I have it on tape, that he bought the rifle that was used in the King slaying. He was named after the church where his father held his first pastorate. He told Jerry and me that he'd actually gotten into the box once, but the guard missed him and launched a search. A member of the Republican Party, White was first elected in District 12 in 2010, which then included Angelina, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Tyler counties.He left office on August 11, 2022. Jerry Ray was J.B. Stoner's campaign manager when Stoner ran for Governor of Georgia against Jimmy Carter. When I got out the third time, I worked in the Tag Plant. Some of the books written about the assassination describe him as a major drug dealer in Jefferson City, which is ludicrous. Later, though, he claimed he left the prints to gain international notoriety. In the year 1952, he served a two year prison sentence for the armed robbery of a cab driver. So, even if I conceded the possibility that Ray had sold drugs, it would have been in small quantities, and for a brief period of time. In the year 1968, Earl Ray brought a Remington Model 760 Gamemaster .30-06-caliber rifle and a box with 20 cartridges. King still tried to hide ODell in his organization until July, 1963, when he accepted ODells resignation. As King put it, ODells release was not because of connections between ODell and the CPUSA but because of the emotional public response. The cartridge case (Q3) found in the Q2 rifle had been fired He even changed his family name to Raynes in order to avoid the law enforcement agencies. 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. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was a skinny guy with sandy hair and a cultured, slightly arrogant manner. Declassified FBI Paper Reveals Martin Luther Kings Sexual Aberrations, Martin Luther King Day Based on MLKs Image, Not Reality, Martin Luther King: The Celebration of a Myth. Ray watched it all on the cell-block TV at Jeff City. An hour later, he was declared dead. The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband.. "[20] I've seen it happen again and again. (Benny had taken two years of civil engineering in college.). [2] He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. Earl Rays family had problems with the law enforcement ever since he was a child. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison. 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. 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. The paper stated that King had announced that this action would disrupt the normal course of business and, in fact, close down the nations capital. [6] It was during this time that Brown caught the attention of the producers of Judge Judy. Jimmy Carter, in full James Earl Carter, Jr., (born October 1, 1924, Plains, Georgia, U.S.), 39th president of the United States (1977-81), who served as the country's chief executive during a time of serious problems at home and abroad. The date was November 9, 1963. Brown then said, "OK, OK, I'll tell you what. I grew up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles. Months later, he recanted his confession, without effect. James Earl Ray was born in a poor family on March 10, 1928 in Alton, Illinois, USA. But among legal and historical scholars, there is a broad consensus that James Earl Ray, though he may not have acted alone, is the gunman who shot Martin Luther King. Drupal theme by ThemeSnap.com, That is why he could never have been a major drug dealer. 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.). "Excuse me, on what authority do you sit by the way? But, having tried to escape from the maximum-security prison, we both had joined a small list of convicts who would be watched at all times by the guards. Then Benny was transferred to L-Hall, an honor unit just outside the walls of the main penitentiary. 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. 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. 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