Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassin

“One day his mother, Alberta […] decided that Martin was old enough to hear what black parents today still call ‘The Talk’: the conversation to prepare a black child for the racism he might encounter in the outside world. Martin never forgot it.”

King grew up in an affluent Black household and was shielded from many of the realities of racism and segregation as a young child. However, his innocence was soon broken. Learning about discrimination and his early experiences with racism were formative experiences for King.

“The experience had a profound effect on him. He was treated as an equal of the young white local teens who worked with him in the fields. There were no WHITES ONLY signs on water fountains or soda machines. He could go to restaurants. And he could sit wherever he liked in theaters or buses or trains. He relished the temporary freedom from segregation that he enjoyed in the North. In sharp contrast, returning home to the Southern system depressed him.”

When King spent a summer working on a tobacco farm in Connecticut, he lived in a desegregated society for the first time. This experience was eye-opening for him, as he was finally treated like an equal. This made the segregation and discrimination in the South all the more obvious and harder to bear.

“He had two choices—he could heed his close call with death, step out of the spotlight, and return to his quiet life. Or he could continue his work. He chose to recommit himself to the civil rights movement.”

When King survived Izola Ware Curry’s assassination attempt, he could no longer overlook the dangers of being a public figure in the fight for Civil Rights. However, instead of giving in to fear and backing down, King chose to fight even harder. Swanson repeatedly emphasizes how The Impact of King’s Life and Death was often shaped by his courage and determination.

“To win civil rights for black Americans, King pursued two goals simultaneously: He wanted to change the law, and he wanted to change public opinion.

In the first prong of this one-two punch, King decided that peaceful, nonviolent but relentless public protests, demonstrations, marches, and speeches could call attention to civil rights violations.”

This passage outlines the rationale behind King’s nonviolent protest strategy, invoking the theme of Violence and Nonviolence in the Fight Against Injustice. In order to change the law and public opinion about Black people, he had to show the violence and oppression of racial discrimination in the South. His peaceful protests often drew violent retaliations from white supremacists and law enforcement officials, but this helped reveal the injustice that the civil rights movement was fighting.

“King knew he needed to do more than change the law. He needed to change human hearts and minds, too. Racist attitudes had been woven into the fabric of American life for centuries. It was a daunting and gigantic task. Was King up to the challenge?”

Racism was deeply ingrained in American culture. King recognized that change had to come on a social level as well as through legislation. King’s commitment to promoting the ideals of racial equality and nonviolence would form two of the most important aspects of The Impact of King’s Life and Death.

“These initial thirteen riders were a group of seven black and six white pacifists intending to challenge the segregation laws in Southern bus stations and on the buses themselves. White racists met them with violence. Just south of Anniston, Alabama, their bus was burned, and in Birmingham, Alabama, they were beaten by mobs. These attacks revealed the culture of rising violence that Martin Luther King, Jr., faced.”

This passage describes the first Freedom Ride in 1961. These Freedom Riders (See: Index of Terms) hoped to protest the continued segregation of interstate buses. However, they were met with terrible violence. This demonstration was still early in the civil rights movement and illustrated the violent resistance that most of King’s peaceful protests would be met with.

“Americans—including President Kennedy—watched it all on television. Ugly images of racist mobs exposed the evil of racial discrimination in ‘the land of the free.’”

In 1963, police in Birmingham attacked a march of nearly a thousand Black schoolchildren with dogs and firehoses. The photos of the march were published around the world, revealing the violence and discrimination that Black people faced and sparking outrage. Faced with this undeniable evidence, President Kennedy finally addressed the nation on the subject of Civil Rights.

“King feared that the tragedy foreshadowed his own fate. As he and Corrie watched Kennedy’s funeral on television, he told his wife, ‘This is what is going to happen to me.’”

When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, King saw a similar fate for himself. He knew that his position as the public face of the civil rights movement put his life in danger. King’s perpetual exposure to violent threats reflects the issue of Violence and Nonviolence in the Fight Against Injustice.

“A Nation of Islam minister and civil rights leader named Malcolm X was impatient with Martin Luther King’s strategy of nonviolence. He thought it was too passive a tactic and that it would take too long for blacks to obtain equal rights. He also disagreed with King’s goal of full integration into white society.”

Not everyone approved of Martin Luther King’s methods of nonviolent resistance. Malcolm X (See: Key Figures) advocated for meeting violence with violence and did not embrace King’s vision of a racially-blended society. The different stances of the two leaders illustrates the debates surrounding Violence and Nonviolence in the Fight Against Injustice.

“By this time, King was almost forty years old. The young and upcoming generation of activists—some in their late teens or early twenties—thought his approach was too conservative.”

King faced more criticism as the 1960s progressed and the civil rights movement developed. Many of the younger activists thought that his nonviolent techniques were too passive, reflecting the ongoing tensions surrounding the use of Violence and Nonviolence in the Fight Against Injustice.

“King wanted to do more than help African Americans. He called for a new campaign to fight for social justice for people of all races, for economic equality, and for world peace. And he demanded that the United States end the war in Vietnam.”

The controversy around King increased when he began speaking out for causes that some felt were unrelated to the original aims of the civil rights movement. He wanted to advocate for social justice for marginalized peoples of all races, not just African Americans. He also spoke out against the Vietnam War, angering President Johnson and many of his other political allies. However, his conviction illustrates that what mattered most to King was not fame or his reputation, but a genuine desire for peace and equality.

“In April 1967, two things happened that would change the destiny of the nation, and of Dr. King. He set the first one in motion himself with his opposition to the Vietnam War, but he had no control over—and was not even aware of—the second. On the same day Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his press conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to oppose the Vietnam War, something happened a thousand miles away. Something no one could have imagined would have any significance whatsoever to the life or work of Dr. King.”

The same day that King announced his opposition to the Vietnam War, James Earl Ray escaped from prison. One of these events was highly televised while the other went largely unnoticed. However, both would have great consequences for the United States and King. By pairing these events together, Swanson stresses how Repercussions and Twists of Fate can sometimes unexpectedly impact the course of larger events.

“James began with disadvantages. His family was poor and lived in primitive conditions. Things were as dismal as they had been at the end of the Civil War. Lowly birth, meager circumstances, bad influences, and his poor education put James Earl Ray on a precarious path from the start.”

James Earl Ray illustrates the disadvantages that poor white people face and the consequences of these disadvantages. Ironically, Ray is the kind of person King hoped to help by launching his new Poor People’s Campaign.

“In fact, James Earl Ray possessed an important trait that proved invaluable in his life of crime. He was a kind of everyman with an average-looking face and a flat, unremarkable personality that was difficult to remember. He didn’t stand out.”

Ray was exactly the kind of “anonymous person” with the power to change history that Swanson mentioned in the Prologue, reflecting the theme Repercussions and Twists of Fate. By describing Ray’s unremarkable appearance and personality, Swanson shows that the most unlikely players can change history, contrasting the nondescript Ray with the charismatic and famous King.

“Nothing suggested that the accident would have worldwide repercussions. But, like a stone skipping across the water of a still lake, this event sent out ripples that would reach far beyond Memphis. It would touch Martin Luther King, Jr., in a way that no one could have imagined.”

The accident that killed two Black sanitation workers in Memphis is another example of how the moments in which history is made are often overlooked. The accident inspired the sanitation workers to strike, which brought Martin Luther King to Memphis to organize a march. This would bring him to the Lorraine Motel, where he would be killed.

“That all came to an end on Sunday, March 17, 1968. Like a caged homing pigeon released to the sky, or a hibernating animal awakened by nature’s call, he responded to an inner signal that only he could hear and that would direct his movements over the next three weeks.”

No one knows why Ray assassinated King, as up until March 1968, Ray seemed to be settling into his new life in California. However, on March 17, everything changed, and all of Ray’s actions became directed toward assassinating King.

“March 31 had been a momentous day, filled with big events. Martin Luther King had given his last sermon. Lyndon Johnson had withdrawn from the presidential race of 1968. And, just one day earlier, James Earl Ray had bought a rifle.”

Here, Swanson describes the events of March 30 and 31, 1968, illustrating the theme Repercussions and Twists of Fate. There were some moments, like President Johnson’s announcement that he would not seek re-election, that shocked the nation and were widely publicized. Others, like James Earl Ray purchasing a rifle, went unnoticed. However, all of these events contributed to shaping American history.

“It was King’s third trip to Memphis in three weeks, and his third attempt to lead a march to support the striking sanitation workers. The unseasonal, freak snowstorm had prevented the first one. Rioting and violence had ruined the second. King’s aides had objected to these multiple visits. It was almost as if, via a series of ill omens, fate had warned him to stay away from Memphis.”

King’s efforts to lead the march in Memphis were full of bad luck, and many of his aides and advisors felt he was spending too much time focusing on the sanitation workers’ cause. Swanson suggests this bad luck was a sign of the tragedy awaiting King in Memphis, injecting a sense of fatalism into the story of The Impact of King’s Life and Death.

“More than Abraham Lincoln, more than John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., had spent years under the continuous threat of violence. But he persevered and exhibited great personal courage as he went about his work. King was one of the bravest, most fearless figures in American history.”

While other important figures in American history faced violence and assassinations, King was in constant danger. His home was bombed, he survived an assassination attempt, and he was often threatened. However, none of this dissuaded King; instead, it became proof of the importance of the work he was doing. The reality of constant threats speaks to Violence and Nonviolence in the Fight Against Injustice.

“Success was not inevitable. Ray did not possess the deadly skills of a professional killer. No, he was an amateur. Anyone could buy a rifle. But not everyone had the skill and temperament to use one to kill a man.”

Here, Swanson shows the amount of luck and conviction that played into King’s assassination, invoking the theme of Repercussions and Twists of Fate. Ray was not a violent criminal, but in deciding to assassinate King, he revealed a more dangerous side to his temperament.

“The murder of Dr. King unleashed a spasm of anger, resentment, vandalism, looting, arson, and gunfire, all of the things that Martin Luther King had tried for a decade to prevent. His murder caused an American upheaval.”

Throughout the 1960s, tension built across the United States. Between the civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, it was a time of great social and political upheaval. Many of King’s supporters had become impatient with his nonviolent methods, causing tensions over Violence and Nonviolence in the Fight Against Injustice. Many were frustrated with the movement’s slow progress and worn down by the constant violent retaliation. King’s death was one blow too many, and Black people rose up in force against the racist system that had oppressed them.

“This had not been an easy process. In an age before digital images and computer searches, agents had to visually compare thousands of fingerprints by hand.”

While describing the manhunt for James Earl Ray, Swanson often illustrates how the search was different in the 1960s than it would have been today. Searching for Ray without modern digital technologies required tremendous manpower and resources. Swanson points this out to emphasize the scale of the search and the urgency of finding Ray.

“Ray expected—with the help of first-rate lawyering—to be acquitted, believing that no white jury in the South would ever convict him. Ray deluded himself into believing that many Americans would treat him as a hero, and that once he had been acquitted he could make money from his infamy.”

Perhaps because Ray had spent the first half of the 1960s in prison, he failed to realize how much the civil rights movement had changed the United States. As a white man, he thought that he would easily get away with killing King. This passage also indicates one of Ray’s likely motives: He might have believed that killing King would make him famous, something he could then leverage for easy money.