He was of Irish, Scots, and Welsh ancestry. Rays father forged a check and hence had to shift his family to Ewing, Missouri to escape enforcement authorities. In September 1961, I tried to escape and pulled six months in E-Hall, a 100-year-old building whose third floor was for solitary confinement. He shot. Stokely Carmichael of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an extremist Black Nationalist organization, has conferred with King. The Q2 rifle-had general class characteristics of six lands and Meanwhile, William Bradford Huie, gathering information for his book, One of the most intriguing aspects of the, John Wayne Gacy Confessed to Killing Dozens (December 22, 1978). Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. He decided to assassinate him to stop blacks from getting equal status to the whites. 9 A staff report, An Analysis of James Earl Ray's Trip to New Orleans, December 15-21, 1967, appears in XIII Appendix to the HSCA-MLK hearings (hereinafter referred to as staff report: New Orleans trip). The murder of Lee Harvey Oswald had closed the door to an open trial that might have answered the question of whether Oswald acted alone, or was part of a conspiracy. Somehow, Ray managed to escape from prison on two different occasions. He was a democrat. While on the lam in the 1950s, Ray lived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico under the pseudonym Eric Stalvo Galt. While there, Eric Galt ordered video equipment through the mail to start up a business as a small-time pornographer. According to press accounts, Brown became combative and irate after Horne refused to discuss details of the case that were not on the schedule. James Earl Ray knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily Corrections? The coffee was contraband. He admitted to staying at the rooming house from where authorities said the bullet that struck Rev. We knew that anytime you try to escape from a maximum-security prison you run the risk of being shot. Jerry Ray was J.B. Stoner's campaign manager when Stoner ran for Governor of Georgia against Jimmy Carter. 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. Jerry began to follow my lead, and that became a source of friction among me, Laster and Westberg. The same NSRP member said there were plans to kill Martin Luther King. Although Ray had two attempted escapes on his record, he did not have nearly as much heat on him as Westberg. The facts tend to be the same, G. Robert Blakey, a law professor at Notre Dame University, told me on April 8, 1998 during an interview as I worked as a columnist for The Tennessean. Over several decades, federal investigators have routinely concluded that Raoul doesnt exist. James Earl White (born July 16, 1964) is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 19, which encompassed Polk, Hardin, Jasper, Newton, and Tyler counties. Martin Luther King Jr. Now confident that he could not be recognized, he again began a cross-country drive to Atlanta, Georgia. The Committee Believes, on the Basis of the Circumstantial Evidence Available to it, that there is a Likelihood that James Earl Ray Assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, JR., as a Result of a Conspiracy. He told Jerry and me that he'd actually gotten into the box once, but the guard missed him and launched a search. The Revenge of George Wallace The Rays would have had many opportunities to meet racists. The damage to the clothing was consistent with the caliber One thing never mentioned about Ray's time in Jefferson City is the fact he had a nearly exemplary conduct record, with the exception of the two escape attempts. He simply hounded you (not that Ray was a coward, or afraid to fight, but he wasn't the type to start the fight). Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. He believed that King was a serious threat to the dominance of white people in the USA and wanted to stop him through any means. He said not knowing the truth about his fathers assassination had been painful for the family. 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 . The only thing publicity could do was further humiliate them. Just before Ray's escape from Jeff City he was visited by his brother. He later joined the American army at the end of the Second World War and served in Germany. No vehicle traffic would have been allowed in or out until he was found. Lee Harvey Oswald James Earl Ray Sirhan Sirhan . After reading about the news in newspapers, he immediately drove to Memphis. You would also know who had just gotten a shipment of dope. The cells that I was associated with in Cleveland were continually being asked to raise funds for Martin Luther Kings activities. She also said, Mr. and other allegedly exculpatory evidence are not worthy of belief. His first prison break happened in 1967, when he escaped the Missouri State Penitentiary on a bread truck before fleeing to Canada. 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. Starting with his contribution to the presidential campaign of Wallace, Ray developed a strong animosity towards Martin Luther King Jr. Hunter Pitts ODell, former National Committee member of the CPUSA, was employed by SCLC. [4] While on the bench he was known for his sometimes unusual sentences, such as, sentencing a child molester to confess to his church congregation and ordering a drug trafficker to apologize in a newspaper letter.[5]. Updates? James Earl Ray, (born March 10, 1928, Alton, Illinois, U.S.died April 23, 1998, Nashville, Tennessee), American assassin of the African American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Ray had been a small-time crook, a robber of gas stations and stores, who had served time in prison, once in Illinois and twice in Missouri, and received a suspended sentence in Los Angeles. The day after the trial ended, Coretta King held a press conference in Atlanta to praise the decision. He edited most of the chapters of Kings book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? James Earl Ray was raised as a catholic and had conservative religious beliefs from his childhood. [12], Brown is an Independent candidate for the 2023 Memphis mayoral election. the result of a conspiracy that involved Jowers, not Ray, as well as ''others, including governmental agencies. He guided King in deciding whether to accept or reject public appearances. James Earl Ray was a racist, but there was circumstantial evidence that a businessman in St. Louis had established a $50,000 bounty for King's death." . While serving in the military, Ray was often charged with drunkenness and breaking arrest. [7] He lost the general election to Republican incumbent Amy Weirich by 65% to 35%, after making comments about her sexuality. Stoner had trouble getting into the case, however . The verdict did convict Loyd Jowers and "other parties known and unknown" for their parts in the vast US government conspiracy to assassinate King. I've always had trouble accepting Ray as an assassin. As President Ronal Reagan once wrote to former New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson, who had sent a letter to Reagan urging the president not to sign the bill for a holiday honoring King, On the national holiday you mentioned, I have the reservations you have, but here the perception of too many people is based on an image, not reality. On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the citys firefighters. The Galileo Case Revisited | Beyond the Cover. That investigation declassified scores of memos detailing the bureaus abusive behavior, but did not reveal any evidence that the FBI had formally plotted his death. Kelsey Grammer. In the year 1968, Earl Ray brought a Remington Model 760 Gamemaster .30-06-caliber rifle and a box with 20 cartridges. But within Martin Luther Kings family, there remains a persistent belief that Ray is innocent, and was set up to take the fall. 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. Because of the 1959 incident, Jerry had so much heat on him that if the guards lost sight of him for even a few minutes, they panicked. That description comes closer to Jerry Ray than to James Earl Ray. the Democratic Party won the presidency. He escaped from the prison hiding in a truck that was transporting bread from the prison bakery. Ray said he wasnt in the room when King was shot, but he was unable to consistently explain where he had been, or keep other important details in his story straight. Although it is often. Could Chinas Petroyuan Give Rise to a New World Energy Order? If it hadn't been for the two escape attempts, Ray would almost certainly have been paroled by the time he actually did escape. . Wardens and guards know that an escape artist is a threat to their livelihood; more guards and wardens have lost their jobs because of escapes than for any other reason. He was sentenced to 99 years at the State penitentiary. An hour later, he was declared dead. He said that another person he met in Canada by the name Raoul was the actual person who plotted the murder and ultimately pulled the trigger. His perceived inability to deal successfully with those problems led to an overwhelming defeat in his bid for reelection. Ray, a hardened thief, robber and a sometimes-moody liar, assassinated the Rev. A mock trial of Ray in which he was represented by Dr. William Pepper was later telecast on TV to criticize the government for denying him the trial. In 2011, the only irony greater than the left blaming right wing rhetoric for the violence perpetrated by an individual having no affiliation with the right, might be that the rhetoric of some very powerful people on the left may have had a direct role in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. That is, of course, if one applies the logic of the left. James Lawson, a Memphis pastor and civil rights institution who helped mentor King, said he began visiting Ray in the Memphis jail in 1969 when Ray complained about being held in solitary. The New American magazine, published twice a month in print and daily online, is the essential news source for freedom-loving Americans. We miss you, James. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. The first time I saw James Earl Ray, he had just arrived at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. But what do you know about James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Martin Luther King? 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. Guys told me he would hound you relentlessly if you owed him a quarter, but he wouldn't threaten you with violence. Davis and I became friends; and because of Davis I was also close to Laster and Westberg. Although it is possible to live in the same prison with someone for 10 years and never speak to him, it is still an intimate atmosphere. 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. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The US will celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr on Monday, January 18, 2021, remembering all of the tremendous strides the activist-led in promoting civil liberties for all Americans. Ray had seven siblings. Senator in Robert Byrd. Ray fled to Toronto, secured a Canadian passport through a travel agency, flew to London (May 5), then to Lisbon (May 7? James Earl Ray, who pleaded guilty to assassinating King, was renting a room above Jower's establishment and was allegedly an unwitting scapegoat. Anyone who remembers the looks on their faces, their resolve and their anger would have to concede that it would have required nothing short of cold hard facts. After the publication of the Playboy story, Ray fired Kershaw when he found that Playboy paid him $11,000 for facilitating the interview. Who Was James Earl Ray? James Earl Ray, (born March 10, 1928, Alton, Illinois, U.S.died April 23, 1998, Nashville, Tennessee), American assassin of the African American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Although Ray had been sentenced from St. Louis, he was not part of the St. Louis "crowd.". James Earl Ray was born in a poor family on March 10, 1928 in Alton, Illinois, USA. Westberg once described Ray to me as, "Kind of countryfied, but he's okay." I first met Benny Edmondson at the Algoa Reformatory in 1956, where he was teaching typing at the school. Ostensibly only a New York City attorney and businessman, Levison is, in fact, a shrewd, dedicated communist. I'll be out of here very shortly on a Petition for Habeas Corpus and I'll bring up all these problems and guess what, you might not be operating tomorrow. As the paper notes: Through Levisons influence, other subversives were attracted to SCLC [The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King helped found]. Page 388 also a racist, was allegedly connected with the late Leander Perez, Louisiana political boss and virulent segregationist. Judge Brown's lawyer filed an appeal, but the appeal was refused. The verdict in King vs. Jowers found a government conspiracy involving city, state, and federal agents complicit in the murder. Westberg, in turn, liked James Earl Ray. One day he walked away, and it was rumored he took $5,000 of state money with him. Levison has spent the major part of his life advancing communist interests. Shortly after Ray pled guilty to the King murder, Clay Blair's book The Strange Case of James Earl Ray was published. 14. Ray was finally caught hiding in London in February 1968. [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. His prints were found all over the hotel room in Memphis where the shots that killed King were thought to have come from, and they covered the murder weapon -a Remington hunting rifle he purchased in Birmingham, AL. The bureau wiretapped his phone and monitored his movements, taking advantage of times when he seemed particularly upset or depressed. He was right, but he would never be that man. "[11], Responding to a bar discipline complaint filed regarding the contempt incident, Brown declared himself unable to adequately defend himself as a result of health issues including type II diabetes, hypertension, and stress. The 12-person jury verdict unanimous exonerated the "patsy" James Earl Ray for any role in the assassination of MLK. After his capture, his sentence was extended by one more year to 100 years. When, without warning, Ray was allowed to plead guilty and was sentenced to 99 years, without a public trial, millions of people suspected a cover-up. 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. 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. [6] It was during this time that Brown caught the attention of the producers of Judge Judy. He might have eked out enough money to meet his basic needs (he didn't smoke), but not much more than that. A Democratic Senator from West Virginia delivered an extremely incendiary speech on the Senate Floor that was directed specifically at President Lyndon Johnson, also a Democrat. That year, Kings son Dexter Scott King visited Ray in prison to draw attention to the familys push to appeal his case. Absence of witnesses to corroborate Raoul's existence, Rental of room 5-B at Bessie Brewer's roominghouse, Irreconcilable conflicts of interest of Foreman and Hanes, Foreman's failure to investigate the case, Coercion by Foreman and the Federal Government, Ray's belief a guilty plea would not preclude a new trial, How to File a FOIA Request for Archival Records. Joseph Blakeney Brown Jr. (born July 5, 1947), known as Judge Joe Brown, is a former American lawyer and television personality. King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown. 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 . That is why he could never have been a major drug dealer. It was important for the government to have a lone killer-since blacks across the nation were rioting, and proof of a white conspiracy to kill the black civil-rights leader would have caused a racial explosion. There it was once again: A belief from the Rev. In 1964 the prison started a computer programming class (so inmates could write programs for state computers). With the release of this FBI document, however, it seems that the FBI and the JBS were on the same page regarding King. The ballistics tests proved to be inconclusive and Ray remained in prison. For some 50 years, the federal government has maintained that James Earl Ray was the gunman who assassinated King that day. As an indication of just how much Robert Welch, the Founder of The John Birch Society, was on top of Kings communist connection, he wrote the following words for May 1968 John Birch Society Bulletin just two months after the FBI report, which had been classified as secret: During this career of a brief dozen years, [King] was constantly surrounded by, and associated with, Communists. But after HBO conducted a televised mock trial about the assassination in 1993in which Ray gave his first public testimony and was found not guiltyJowers declared that hed been part of a conspiracy to kill King, and that Ray had been set up to take to fall. [17] In audio obtained by WREG[18] and an available transcript on eonline.com,[19] Brown can be heard arguing that the judge didn't have the authority to sit on the bench. When I got out the third time, I worked in the Tag Plant. I've seen it happen again and again. Riots erupted in Memphis; one person was killed and sixty were injured. and condition of the Q64 bullet. He was found to be legally liable and a sum of $100 was accepted by Kings family in restitution. 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. He made the FBI Most Wanted List before his recapture. it near 424 South Main Street, It is highly probable that James Earl Ray stalked Dr. King for a In fact, King's family was as convinced of Ray's innocence as the families of Nicole and Ron were convinced of Simpson's guilt. But almost immediately after her husbands assassination, she suspected that the FBI, which had investigated the murder, was involved in it. When Ray pled guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, his role in the assassination was a matter of serious dispute. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Back in Memphis, Ray pleaded guilty, forfeiting a trial, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. In 1999, James Earl Ray was found innocent of killing Martin Luther King Jr. in the same way O.J. It seems clear to me that there was a conspiracy to murder King, and that James Earl Ray was involved. After his escape, Early Ray was continuously on the move and travelled across USA, Canada, and Mexico. He was unable to give me any specifics but just responded that "it was common knowledge.". Speech of Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senate Journal, Appendix Two, March 29, 1968. They laid out the evidence before he entered his plea, and he said, OK. He said his lawyers were incompetent, and that proved false. 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. After the King shooting, one person living at the rooming house where the shot was fired described the assassin as heavy set with receding hair. One of Kings principal advisors is Stanley David Levison. Brown was sentenced to five days in jail,[7][15] but was later released on his own recognizance. James Earl Ray (born 1965) is listed at 42036 Queen Anne Ct Northville, Mi 48167 and has no known political party affiliation. 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. On March 28th, riots took place in Memphis and King was present; on March 29th, Democrat Senator Byrd threw down the gauntlet with Democrat president Lyndon Baines Johnson by delivering a fiery speech on the Senate Floor intended to get the president to stop Kings march; Johnson announced on March 31st that he would not seek reelection; a bullet would take the life of King days later on April 4th, one year to the day after delivering what many viewed as an incendiary speech at the time. In any event, the prison officials never placed him in the same category as Davis, Laster and Westberg, who would unhesitatingly use weapons while escaping. In the 1960s John Larry Ray (another brother) owned a tavern in St. Louis, and that tavern was an unofficial headquarters for the Wallace for President campaign. According to Harding, King had already severely angered Johnson by delivering that speech, which could have made Johnson quite receptive to Byrds sentiment. [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. Of the 2,500 men in the prison, fewer than 20 had ever tried to escape from inside the walls. Laster made several more desperate attempts to escape, including one attempt to saw out of death row (during which a guard captain was blinded). It wasn't until November 9, 1970--years after Ray escaped from Jefferson City--that inmates were allowed to purchase small black-and-white television sets, which they could keep in their cells. We got involved in several schemes, but our lack of mobility made it difficult to function. "[10], In August 2015, Brown served five days in the Shelby County Jail after having been held in contempt of court in March 2014. During the original taped conversation, Milteer also revealed a plot against Martin Luther King, one that involved an NSRP hit man named Brown. In 1962, when King mentioned to Levinson that he was thinking of adding an administrative assistant to his staff, Levinson recommended ODell, who was then head of SCLCs New York office. McMillans false scenarios portray Ray as a rabid racist in prison. We had no contact, however, since he was on the other side of the building. James Earl Ray was the assassin of American Baptist minister and civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ray was born in on March 10, 1928 in a poor Irish-American family of Alton, Illinois, and was raised a Catholic. Benny Edmondson thought it was hilarious that William Bradford Huie thought he was "Raoul." Brown apparently raised his voice and interrupted a magistrate judge while representing a woman seeking child support in Shelby County Juvenile Court. In 1997, King told Ray personally that both he and his family believed him. The prosecutors have enough efficient evidence in establishing guilt against James Earl Ray concerning the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. First, James Earl Ray was in close enough vicinity of the Lorraine Hotel to successfully fire a clear shot to kill Dr. King from only a block away. Each year, the third Monday in January is a celebration to commemoratethe life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., the tireless civil rights activist who was gunned down in Memphis, TN, in 1968. Rays fingerprints were the only ones found on the gun, and there were no witnesses who had seen him with Raoul during the nine months they supposedly knew each other (Rays description of Raoul also changed a few times). I occasionally rented magazines from Ray, but other inmates usually had a larger selection, and better quality magazines. Milteer, a Stoner associate, as he discussed NSRP plans with a Miami police informer. The box was picked up, and Ray successfully escaped on April 23, 1967. It got so that the very sight of King would galvanize Ray. 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. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to . He was a loner. Jack Kershaw Is Dead at 96; Challenged Conviction in King's Death. McMillans false scenarios portray Ray as a rabid racist in prison. PRPhotos. Shortly before his seventh birthday, in 1935, his father passed a bad check and the Rays fled to Ewing, Missouri, where they changed their name to Raynes to avoid . After this Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. Whatever noble goals King proclaimed, the subversive company he chose to keep severely neutralizes any good he may have aspired to and creates serious doubts about the sincerity of his stated mission. J.B. Stoner, however, would certainly have had the know-how for both, plus the white-supremacist background to explain why he would do it. Ray fled from the scene immediately and could not be located immediately by the police. In June 1977 Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain (Tennessee) Prison and remained at large for 54 hours before being recaptured in a massive manhunt. When authorities caught him in London, hed been planning to travel to Rhodesia, a former African state ruled by a white minority in present-day Zimbabwe. Brown then said, "OK, OK, I'll tell you what. The prison officials knew that Ray's escape, and involvement in the King assassination, would forever blemish their professional records as penologists. Almost everyone felt sure the government would want to avoid a never-ending search for conspirators in the King case, and would accomplish that by presenting its evidence at Ray's trial. At that time, King was well aware of Levisons and ODells communist affiliations. Then, the (U.S.) House Assassinations Committee spent two years and $2.5 million investigating the case. Davis and Laster were both shot during that attempt. However, immediately following King's killing, U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark announced that the killing was the work of a lone assassin. When ODells position as a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party was revealed in 1961, King supposedly fired him. He is a male registered to vote in Wayne County, Michigan. The manhunt was the most expensive and biggest for the FBI (at that time). A consequence of Kings alleged involvement in those riots was that it caught the attention of some powerful politicians. In several schemes, but our lack of mobility made it difficult to function County, Michigan the bureau his. Laster and Westberg held a press conference in Atlanta to praise the decision there were plans kill. In Wayne County, Michigan high school students the FBI, which had the. Found a government conspiracy involving City, State, and voluntarily Corrections involved Jowers, not,! 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