The Conspiracies Surrounding the Assassination of MLK

         On April 4, 1968, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shocked the nation. Still, for many Americans, including the family of the doctor, the official story never fully answered the questions surrounding his death. On the morning of April 4th, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leaned over the balcony of the Lorraine Motel to exchange words with a colleague and was fatally shot. James Earl Ray was arrested and later convicted for the murder, yet he later recanted and maintained that he did not murder the pastor. While the United States government has always maintained that James Earl Ray acted alone, the King family sued and won a wrongful death lawsuit in December 1999. This, along with eye witness testimony and conflicting evidence, has led to conspiracies surrounding the death of the prominent civil rights leader. If James Earl Ray did not do it, who did? Why are there witness testimonies of seeing what looked to be a military officer? Why weren’t James Earl Ray’s prints found within the boarding house? These conspiracy theories offer an intriguing glimpse into the conflicting evidence surrounding the events that led to the death of Martin Luther King Jr.

        The first and most popular theory is the “Raoul” Theory, also known as the “Fall Guy” Theory, in which many researchers and members of the King family believe that James Earl Ray, the convicted killer of Martin Luther King Jr., was framed and used as a scapegoat. One of the most compelling arguments that James Earl Ray was set up comes from Lloyd Jowers, a Memphis cafe owner who claimed firsthand knowledge of a conspiracy. In Jowers’ 1993 interview on ABC’s PrimeTime Live, Jowers alleged that Frank Roberto, another Memphis business man, paid him $100,000 to help arrange the assassination. In his own words, “...he asked me to handle somebody’s transaction and hire someone to assassinate Martin Luther King.” During the 1999 civil trial King family v. Loyd Jowers, the King family spoke to how important the trial was. As his oldest daughter Yolanda King testified during the 1999 trial, “I think we have all come to a very unified decision in terms of the importance of what is happening here and also the reason why it is so important and so significant.” (King) According to Martin Luther King III and Dr. Bernice A. King. “the jury unanimously concluded that our father was the victim of a conspiracy involving Loyd Jowers and unnamed co-conspirators, including government agencies as part of a wider scheme” (King and King) Through Jowers’ claims, the narrative of the official story changes from James earl Ray being a violently hateful man to someone who was handed a rifle, given a location and left to take the blame. 

         The second theory is that the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover had both the motive and the machinery to be at least involved in King’s death. Especially with the FBI’s previous history of trying to destroy him. Circumstantially, the FBI director J. Edgar Hoover obsessed over King who he regarded as a communist influence. 6 years before his death, King went through constant wiretappings at his hotel rooms as well as harassment from the FBI. Dr. King was also being heavily monitored by U.S. military intelligence, who might have been called after the doctor was publicly against the Vietnam War. According to a 1968 FBI COINTELPRO memo cited by the House Select Committee on Assassinations, “[p]revent the rise of a ‘messiah’ who could unify and electrify the militant Black nationalist movement.” The memo continued, “Malcom X might have been such a “messiah”; …King could be a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed obedience to white, liberal doctrines (nonviolence) and embrace Black Nationalism” (House Select Committee). William Sullivan…issued a call to arms memo days after King’s infamous I Have A Dream speech: “We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation.” The FBI Counterintelligence program, mainly referred to as COINTELPRO shows this theory's motive. The FBI was actively seeking to neutralize Martin Luther King Jr., and what they perceived to be a “Black Nationalist movement”, which we know as the Civil Rights movement that gave Americans their rights. This combined with evidence like Dr. King’s security reduction that day, as well as an untraceable phone call to him requesting he stay in the specific hotel room King was uncomfortable with staying in because of the lack of privacy and huge windows. Followed by reports of undercover police officers like Marrell McCollough being present at the scene. This shows that the government had both the will and the opportunity to be involved. This pattern was even pointed out by the King family when they filed their lawsuit. 

        Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a monumental civil rights leader, pastor and all around American inspiration for a better future. The two major theories surrounding his assassination challenge the official narrative of James Earl Ray acting alone in a violent, racist rage. The evidence for these theories, both the fall guy theory and government involvement reveals just how many people feel there is more to the story. Based on the evidence, the conspiracy theory that best explains the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. may be a mix of both organized criminal networks and the federal government having a motive.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a monumental civil rights leader, pastor and all around American inspiration for a better future. The two major theories surrounding his assassination challenge the official narrative of James Earl Ray acting alone in a violent, racist rage. The evidence for these theories, both the fall guy theory and government involvement reveals just how many people feel there is more to the story. Based on the evidence, the conspiracy theory that best explains the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. may be a mix of both organized criminal networks and the federal government having a motive.