On the first one he'd fallen and stunned himself; on the second he'd hidden in a ceiling. James Earl Ray was raised as a catholic and had conservative religious beliefs from his childhood. After reading about the news in newspapers, he immediately drove to Memphis. Omissions? He is a former Shelby County, Tennessee Criminal Court judge and a former arbiter of the arbitration-based reality court show Judge Joe Brown. It is clear why tyrants wish to keep people from learning about Price and reading the powerful words he wrote defending freedom and Is Christianity the enemy of science? (Several authors have said it was "common knowledge" in Jeff City that you could go to England and acquire an ID the way Ray did. The bullet was imprinted with six lands and six grooves and 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. Los Angeles was the site of Ray's first arrest, for burglary, in 1949, and he ended up serving 90 days in jail. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. We miss you, James. [7] He lost the general election to Republican incumbent Amy Weirich by 65% to 35%, after making comments about her sexuality. One week prior to Kings assassination on April 4, 1968 he had gone to Memphis to show support for local sanitation workers. Then, the (U.S.) House Assassinations Committee spent two years and $2.5 million investigating the case. It would later be learned that Ray's classification card contained erroneous fingerprints, which were initially distributed nationally. 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. Long before Ray was captured-before anyone could have known the details of what had happened in Memphis--the U.S. government had committed itself to the lone assassin theory; to such an extent, I was told later by white extremists in the South, that they were surprised by the government's failure to question even such notable racists as J.B. Stoner or leading figures in the Ku Klux Klan. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick OConnor, the factsor a lack of themdidnt add up. After his capture, his sentence was extended by one more year to 100 years. I watched my parents tough it out on a daily basis, and I saw that what really kept them going was making a difference to others. After this, Ray was on the run and was captured in the UK. Law enforcement agencies believe that he started indulging in criminal activities as he could not support himself financially. 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 filmed local prostitutes during their work hours in pursuit of his cinematographic dream, but he eventually left Puerto Vallarta after being jilted by his girlfriend who, coincidentally, was also one of the prostitutes he filmed. King was shot by Earl Ray when the former was standing in the balcony of his motel room. To believe that the King family was motivated exclusively by publicity, one must believe that all of its members were involved in selling out the truth of their loved ones assassination for three figures. Very few conservatives are aware of the pledge's socialist origins. 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. James Earl Ray knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily Stoner's hatred of blacks would not have been offensive to him Ray; he might have viewed it as a little extreme, but he would have admired Stoner for being a rebel and for having a network of trusted associates. The only thing publicity could do was further humiliate them. [3] Brown has spoken about how his upbringing shaped his philosophy. Senator) that an investigation be conducted into the allegations. I had met with him twice while in Memphis at Jims Grill, which was near the boarding house. 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. His first prison break happened in 1967, when he escaped the Missouri State Penitentiary on a bread truck before fleeing to Canada. They would rather ignore the facts than become disillusioned. But a check by United Press International found him still employed by Kings organization. In no uncertain terms, Byrd was calling on Johnson to stop Kings march on D.C. bullet and also revealed the absence of nitrites (the presence of Also, after he moved to St. Louis he lived in south St. Louis, an area known for its racism. Those who express skepticism at the results of the 1999 trial in which James Earl Ray was found innocent of assassinating King have an incredible hurdle to overcome the belief of the King family, which sides with Ray. The box was picked up, and Ray successfully escaped on April 23, 1967. During the six years that James Earl Ray was an inmate at the Missouri State Penitentiary, he kept primarily to himself and, other than for the fact that he attempted to escape on more than one occasion, he had only one conduct violation during that entire time and that was for the possession of three packages of cigarettes, a ball point pen and one pound of coffeeIn addition, you might be interested to know that prior to the Governor's receiving your Mailgram, I personally discussed the allegations and conclusions in the Time magazine article with the author himself, Mr. George McMillan. For the first 25 years after Kings death, Jowers did not claim any involvement in the murder. No vehicle traffic would have been allowed in or out until he was found. 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. "[21], Brown was warned that he would be held in contempt before these comments. He reacted as if King's remarks were directed at him personally. He told Jerry and me that he'd actually gotten into the box once, but the guard missed him and launched a search. Could Chinas Petroyuan Give Rise to a New World Energy Order? That was a bunch of baloney. Although Ray had two attempted escapes on his record, he did not have nearly as much heat on him as Westberg. In a story published based on the test, Playboy claimed that Ray had committed the crime alone. Just once, he was caught with three packs of cigarettes, a pound of coffee and a ballpoint pen. On July 19, he returned to U.S. and the following March he pleaded guilty to murdering King. A two month long manhunt spanning five countries was launched by the law enforcement agencies to nab him. Raised in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, Brown graduated as valedictorian[full citation needed] from Dorsey High School. 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. Findings on Martin Luther King, Jr. people lost faith in the political system. 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. After Kings violent death, and the sealing of most government files related to King, the natural tendency of people to not want to speak ill of the dead set in. James Earl Ray was white. Ray was also Stoner's bodyguard and chauffeur. The bread box would have to pass through the truck tunnel, where all incoming and outgoing vehicles were searched. Certainly not enough to finance his travels to Mexico, Canada, England, etc., after his escape. Martin Luther King Jr. The shot that killed Dr. King was fired from the bathroom window at the I occasionally rented magazines from Ray, but other inmates usually had a larger selection, and better quality magazines. In only two decades, the white population fell by over 300,000; DC became majority-black in the late 1950s.. In subsequent disclosures, Ray said that he was not the only person involved in the murder of King. [18][24][25], This article is about the person. Among the evidence was a recording of Jowers in which he suggested he was interested in fabricating his story for financial gain. Earl Rays family had problems with the law enforcement ever since he was a child. He knew we viewed Ray as a not-too-bright hillbilly. In my interviews with him, I've found him to be eerily unflappable. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. 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 was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty pleathus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentenceand was sentenced to . [22] He was released from protective custody at the Shelby County Corrections Facility the morning of September 1, 2015. Stoner had trouble getting into the case, however . One of the most intriguing aspects of the New Times article on James Earl Ray/Jerry Ray/J.B. 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. Four days after that, Martin Luther King, Jr. was dead. 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. He was named after the church where his father held his first pastorate. But within Martin Luther Kings family, there remains a persistent belief that Ray is innocent, and was set up to take the fall. 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. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! 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. Tray after tray of bread would be stacked into a large box, and then the box would be loaded onto a pickup truck and hauled to the farms. When The John Birch Society first made Kings communist connections known almost 50 years ago, most people were skeptical. Whether anybody helped him indirectly has yet to be determined. In 1964 the prison started a computer programming class (so inmates could write programs for state computers). Godspeed." Likewise, this statement is attributed (without sourcing) to Limbaugh in 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America. Page 388 also a racist, was allegedly connected with the late Leander Perez, Louisiana political boss and virulent segregationist. 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. The bureau wiretapped his phone and monitored his movements, taking advantage of times when he seemed particularly upset or depressed. The new trial was never granted. In the year 1968, Earl Ray brought a Remington Model 760 Gamemaster .30-06-caliber rifle and a box with 20 cartridges. In an article in The New American back in 1999, John F. McManus, former publisher of this magazine and president emeritus of The John Birch Society, provided further detail about ODell association with King: In 1960, King hired one Hunter Pitts ODell to his staff. The same NSRP member said there were plans to kill Martin Luther King. One day he walked away, and it was rumored he took $5,000 of state money with him. From 1961 through 1965 I used a substantial amount of amphetamine, and so did many of the people I associated with, and I never bought any from James Earl Ray. Just before Ray's escape from Jeff City he was visited by his brother. This doesnt mean that Ray couldnt have received assistance. Assassination. As the paper continued, it provided documentation that what King planned for after the civil disobedience would not be so innocuous. 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 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. The Galileo Case Revisited | Beyond the Cover. Corrections? In June 1977 Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain (Tennessee) Prison and remained at large for 54 hours before being recaptured in a massive manhunt. 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 . James Earl Ray confessed to shooting King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. 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. and chemically, revealed the presence of lead from a disintegrating The paper then listed some of the ways Levison had supported and influenced King, as far back as 1956: He actively involved himself in fundraising drives for King. 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. His perceived inability to deal successfully with those problems led to an overwhelming defeat in his bid for reelection. Thorpe Menn, then book editor of The Star, sent it to me to review. So Westberg, who was assigned to work in the kitchen at that time, figured a man could get in the bread box, have a tray of bread placed on top of him, and pass right out of the prison (the box also had a lid over the top tray of bread). That is why he could never have been a major drug dealer. Rays father forged a check and hence had to shift his family to Ewing, Missouri to escape enforcement authorities. Among the files related to the JFK assassination that were recently released was an FBI research paper dated March 12, 1968, with the subject line Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Current Analysis. The paper was written just a month before the controversial civil-rights activist was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. If this self-seeking rabble-rouser is allowed to go through with his plans here, Washington may well be treated to the same kind of violence, destruction, looting, and bloodshed.1. Ray fled to Toronto, secured a Canadian passport through a travel agency, flew to London (May 5), then to Lisbon (May 7? King's killing sent shock waves through American society at the time, and is still regarded as a landmark. This tribunal on a General Sessions Court's authority is insufficient to establish you. 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. Judge Horne began increasing the quantity of days Brown could be held in contempt after Brown continued disrupting the court. He might have eked out enough money to meet his basic needs (he didn't smoke), but not much more than that. King was fired. Jerry Ray told me in the 1970s he had taken pictures of the countryside around the prison and had sent them into James Earl Ray. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection, John McAdams (The John F. Kennedy Assassination Information Center), Dr. King was killed by one shot fired from in front of him. At that time, King was well aware of Levisons and ODells communist affiliations. The verdict did convict Loyd Jowers and "other parties known and unknown" for their parts in the vast US government conspiracy to assassinate King. Doesnt the controversy between Galileo and the Catholic Church prove this? 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 fled from the scene immediately and could not be located immediately by the police. That year, Kings son Dexter Scott King visited Ray in prison to draw attention to the familys push to appeal his case. Between 1998 and 2000, the Department of Justice investigated Jowers claims and the evidence in the civil trial, and concluded that Jowerss claims werent credible. In 1967, he returned to the United States (Los Angeles) from Mexico and took dancing classes in a bartending school. Stoner had trouble getting into the case, however, because no mainstream lawyer wanted anything to do with him. 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. On the night of April 4, 1968 50 years ago now James Earl Ray killed the Rev. He later joined the American army at the end of the Second World War and served in Germany. In the year 1959, he was caught stealing $120 from a Kroger Store in St. Louis. The first year and a half I paid little or no attention to Ray. Ray replied that he did not commit the crime. 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. He edited most of the chapters of Kings book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? 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. 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. 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