Martin Luther King Jr.

==Assassination and aftermath==
{{Main|Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.}}
[[File:Lorraine Motel, Memphis, TN, US.jpg|thumb|The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, is now the site of the [[National Civil Rights Museum]].]]
{{listen
|filename=I've Been To The Mountaintop.ogg
|title=I've Been to the Mountaintop
|description=Final 30 seconds of "[[I've Been to the Mountaintop]]" speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
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On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black [[sanitation workers]], who were represented by [[American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees|AFSCME]] Local 1733. The workers had been [[Memphis sanitation strike|on strike]] since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.<ref name=AFSCME-WEB1>{{cite web |title=1,300 Members Participate in Memphis Garbage Strike|publisher=[[AFSCME]]|date=February 1968|url=http://www.afscme.org/about/1529.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102004632/http://www.afscme.org/about/1529.cfm|archive-date=November 2, 2006|access-date=January 16, 2012}}</ref><ref name="AFSCME-WEB2">{{cite web|title=Memphis Strikers Stand Firm|publisher=[[AFSCME]]|date=March 1968|url=http://www.afscme.org/about/1532.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102004516/http://www.afscme.org/about/1532.cfm|archive-date=November 2, 2006|access-date=January 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement|last=Davis|first= Townsend|page= [https://archive.org/details/wearyfeetresteds00davi/page/364 364]|isbn=978-0-393-04592-5 | publisher =[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|year=1998|url=https://archive.org/details/wearyfeetresteds00davi/page/364}}</ref>

On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "[[I've Been to the Mountaintop]]" address at [[Mason Temple]]. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.newsweek.com/id/69542/page/2| title=The Worst Week | page=2| work=[[Newsweek]] | access-date=August 27, 2008| date=November 19, 2007| last=Thomas| first=Evan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010070531/http://www.newsweek.com/id/69542/page/2 |archive-date=October 10, 2008}}</ref> In reference to the bomb threat, King said:

{{blockquote|And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.<ref>{{cite book| last= Montefiore| first= Simon Sebag| page =[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781847243690/page/155 155] | publisher= Quercus|year=2006|isbn=1-84724-369-X|title= Speeches that Changed the World: The Stories and Transcripts of the Moments that Made History|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781847243690/page/155}}</ref>}}

King was booked in Room 306 at the [[Lorraine Motel]] in Memphis. [[Ralph Abernathy]], who was present at the assassination, testified to the [[United States House Select Committee on Assassinations]] that King and his entourage stayed at Room 306 so often that it was known as the "King-Abernathy suite".<ref name="usdoj">{{cite book|title=United States Department of Justice Investigation of Recent Allegations Regarding the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr|chapter=King V. Jowers Conspiracy Allegations|publisher=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]|date=June 2000|url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/mlk/part1.php|chapter-url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/mlk/part6.php#conspire|access-date=July 11, 2011|archive-date=January 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113154920/http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/mlk/part2.php|url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Jesse Jackson]], who was present, King's last words were spoken to musician [[Ben Branch]], who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play '[[Take My Hand, Precious Lord]]' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."<ref>{{cite news|title=40 years after King's death, Jackson hails first steps into promised land|last=Pilkington|first=Ed|date=April 3, 2008|access-date=June 11, 2008|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/03/usa.race|archive-date=April 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408150848/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/03/usa.race|url-status=live}}</ref>

King was fatally shot by [[James Earl Ray]] at 6:01&nbsp;p.m., Thursday, April 4, 1968, as he stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder.<ref name="CHI">{{cite book |last1=Garner |first1=Joe |page=[https://archive.org/details/weinterruptthisb00garn_0/page/62 62] |first2=Walter |last2=Cronkite |author-link2=Walter Cronkite |first3=Bill |last3=Kurtis |publisher=Sourcebooks |year=2002 |isbn=1-57071-974-8 |title=We Interrupt This Broadcast: The Events that Stopped Our Lives&nbsp;... from the Hindenburg Explosion to the Attacks of September 11 |url=https://archive.org/details/weinterruptthisb00garn_0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King |last=Pepper |first=William |page=[https://archive.org/details/actofstateexe00pepp/page/159 159] |year=2003 |publisher=Verso |isbn=1-85984-695-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/actofstateexe00pepp/page/159}}</ref> Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor.{{sfn|Frady|2002|pp=204–05}}

After emergency surgery, King died at [[St. Joseph's Hospital (Memphis, Tennessee)|St. Joseph's Hospital]] at 7:05&nbsp;p.m.<ref>{{cite book| title= House Divided: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King|page= 48|last= Lokos | first= Lionel|publisher= Arlington House|year= 1968}}
</ref> According to biographer [[Taylor Branch]], King's [[autopsy]] revealed that though only 39 years old, he "had the heart of a 60 year old", which Branch attributed to stress.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/mlk/filmmore/pt.html |title=Citizen King Transcript |publisher=PBS |access-date=June 12, 2008 |archive-date=January 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125144003/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/mlk/filmmore/pt.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> King was initially interred in South View Cemetery in South Atlanta, but in 1977, his remains were transferred to a tomb on the site of the [[Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park]].<ref name="nhsnom">{{Cite web|first1=Robert W.|last1=Blythe|first2=Maureen A.|last2=Carroll|first3=Steven H.|last3=Moffson|name-list-style=amp|date=October 15, 1993|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/80000435_text|format=PDF|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=June 28, 2009|archive-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129211100/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/80000435_text|url-status=live}} and {{NRHP url|id=80000435|title=''Accompanying 75 photos''|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(16.9&nbsp;MB)}}</ref>

===Aftermath===
{{Further|King assassination riots}}
The assassination led to [[Mass racial violence in the United States|race riots]] in [[1968 Washington, D.C. riots|Washington, D.C.]], [[1968 Chicago riots|Chicago]], [[Baltimore riot of 1968|Baltimore]], [[Louisville riots of 1968|Louisville]], [[1968 Kansas City riot|Kansas City]], and dozens of other cities.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news| title=1968: Martin Luther King shot dead| work=On this Day| publisher=BBC (2006)| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/4/newsid_2453000/2453987.stm| access-date=August 27, 2008| date=April 4, 1968| archive-date=March 11, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311175917/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/4/newsid_2453000/2453987.stm| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Risen|first=Clay|title=A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination|year=2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-17710-5|url=https://archive.org/details/nationonfireamer00rise}}</ref><ref name="202004xxSmithsonianMagazineClayRisen">{{cite news |last1=Risen |first1=Clay |title=The Unmaking of the President |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-unmaking-of-the-president-31577203/ |access-date=January 24, 2021 |date=April 2008 |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119112605/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-unmaking-of-the-president-31577203/ |archive-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref> Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was on his way to [[Indianapolis]] for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave [[Robert F. Kennedy's speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|a short, improvised speech]] to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence.<ref>Klein, Joe (2006). ''Politics Lost: How American Democracy was Trivialized by People Who Think You're Stupid''. New York: Doubleday. p. 6. {{ISBN|978-0-385-51027-1}}</ref> The following day, he delivered [[On the Mindless Menace of Violence|a prepared response]] in Cleveland.<ref>{{cite book|last=Newfield|first=Jack|author-link=Jack Newfield|title=Robert Kennedy: A Memoir|publisher=[[Plume (publisher)|Plume]]|edition=3rd|year=1988|isbn=978-0-452-26064-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyme000newf/page/248 248]|url=https://archive.org/details/robertkennedyme000newf/page/248}}</ref> [[James Farmer Jr.]] and other civil rights leaders also called for non-violent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response.<ref name="1968 Year In Review, UPI.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1968/Martin-Luther-King-Assasination/12303153093431-4/ |title=1968 Year In Review |work=United Press International |access-date=November 30, 2010 |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021014925/http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1968/Martin-Luther-King-Assasination/12303153093431-4/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers.<ref name="AFSCME-WEB3">{{cite web|title=AFSCME Wins in Memphis|publisher=[[AFSCME]] The Public Employee|date=April 1968|url=http://www.afscme.org/about/1533.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102004802/http://www.afscme.org/about/1533.cfm|archive-date=November 2, 2006|access-date=January 16, 2012}}</ref>

The plan to set up a [[shantytown]] in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations to carry it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered.<ref name=McKnight>{{cite book|last=McKnight|first=Gerald D.|title=The last crusade: Martin Luther King Jr., the FBI, and the poor people's campaign|year=1998|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=0-8133-3384-9|chapter='The Poor People Are Coming!' 'The Poor People Are Coming!'|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780813333847|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780813333847}}</ref> Thousands of demonstrators arrived on the [[National Mall]] and stayed for six weeks, establishing a camp they called "[[Poor People's Campaign|Resurrection City]]".<ref name="Engler15Jan10">{{cite news|last=Engler |first=Mark |title=Dr. Martin Luther King's Economics: Through Jobs, Freedom |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/dr-martin-luther-kings-economics-through-jobs-freedom# |access-date=July 19, 2012 |newspaper=The Nation |date=January 15, 2010 |archive-date=February 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221105032/http://www.thenation.com/article/dr-martin-luther-kings-economics-through-jobs-freedom |url-status=live }}</ref>

President Johnson tried to quell the riots by making telephone calls to civil rights leaders, mayors and governors across the United States and told politicians that they should warn the police against the unwarranted use of force.<ref name="202004xxSmithsonianMagazineClayRisen" /> However, "I'm not getting through," Johnson told his aides. "They're all holing up like generals in a dugout getting ready to watch a war."<ref name="202004xxSmithsonianMagazineClayRisen" /> Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for King.{{sfn|Manheimer|2004|p=97}}
Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]] attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence.<ref>{{cite book|page= [https://archive.org/details/dixiesdirtysecre00jame/page/169 169]|last= Dickerson|first= James|publisher= ME Sharpe|year= 1998|isbn= 0-7656-0340-3|title= Dixie's Dirty Secret: The True Story of how the Government, the Media, and the Mob Conspired to Combat Immigration and the Vietnam Antiwar Movement|url= https://archive.org/details/dixiesdirtysecre00jame/page/169}}
</ref> At his widow's request, King's last sermon at [[Ebenezer Baptist Church (Atlanta, Georgia)|Ebenezer Baptist Church]], given on February 4, 1968, was played at the funeral:<ref>{{cite book| title =The American Book of Days| url =https://archive.org/details/americanbookofda00hatc| url-access =registration| last1=Hatch |first1=Jane M. |first2=George William|last2=Douglas|publisher=Wilson|year=1978 |page= [https://archive.org/details/americanbookofda00hatc/page/321 321]| isbn =978-0824205935}}
</ref> 
{{blockquote|I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody.
I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind.<ref name="1968 Year In Review, UPI.com"/><ref>{{cite news|title=IBM advertisement|date=January 14, 1985|newspaper=[[The Dallas Morning News]]|page=13A}}</ref>}} 

His good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", at the funeral.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Change is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America|last=Werner|first=Craig|page=[https://archive.org/details/changeisgonnacom00wern_0/page/9 9]|isbn=0-472-03147-3|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=2006|url=https://archive.org/details/changeisgonnacom00wern_0/page/9}}</ref> The assassination helped to spur the enactment of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1968]].<ref name="202004xxSmithsonianMagazineClayRisen" />
Two months after King's death, [[James Earl Ray]]—on the loose from a previous prison escape—was captured at [[London Heathrow Airport]] while trying to reach white-ruled [[Rhodesia]] on a false Canadian passport. He was using the alias Ramon George Sneyd.<ref>{{cite book|title= Martin Luther King, Jr. |url= https://archive.org/details/martinlutherking00ling |url-access= registration |last= Ling|first= Peter J. |page= [https://archive.org/details/martinlutherking00ling/page/296 296]| publisher= Routledge| year =2002| isbn= 0-415-21664-8}}
</ref> Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later.<ref name=extradite>{{cite book|last1= Flowers|first1=R. Barri|first2=H. Loraine|last2=Flowers|page= 38|title= Murders in the United States: Crimes, Killers And Victims Of The Twentieth Century|publisher=McFarland|year=2004 |isbn=0-7864-2075-8}}
</ref> On the advice of his attorney [[Percy Foreman]], Ray pleaded guilty to avoid the possibility of the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.<ref name=extradite/><ref name=cbs>{{cite web|title=James Earl Ray Dead At 70|date=April 23, 1998|publisher=CBS|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/04/23/national/main7900.shtml|access-date=June 12, 2008|archive-date=November 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114172759/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/04/23/national/main7900.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Ray later claimed a man he met in [[Montreal]], Quebec, with the alias "Raoul" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy.<ref>{{cite book| page=[https://archive.org/details/compsta00unit/page/17 17] |author= House Select Committee on Assassinations|title=Compilation of the Statements of James Earl Ray: Staff Report|publisher=The Minerva Group |isbn=0-89875-297-3|year=2001|url=https://archive.org/details/compsta00unit/page/17}}
</ref><ref name=davis>
{{cite book|title= Assassination: 20 Assassinations that Changed the World|page=105 |last=Davis|first=Lee|year=1995|publisher=JG Press|isbn= 1-57215-235-4}}
</ref> He spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.<ref name=cbs/> Ray died in 1998 at age 70.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/24/us/james-earl-ray-70-killer-of-dr-king-dies-in-nashville.html|title=James Earl Ray, 70, Killer of Dr. King, Dies in Nashville|first=Lawrence Van|last=Gelder|date=April 24, 1998|newspaper=[[NYTimes.com]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210120821/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/24/us/james-earl-ray-70-killer-of-dr-king-dies-in-nashville.html |archive-date=February 10, 2014}}</ref>

===Allegations of conspiracy===
{{Main|Martin Luther King Jr. assassination conspiracy theories}}
[[File:Martin Luther King Jr Coretta Scott King Tomb.jpg|thumb|The [[sarcophagus]] for Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King is within the [[Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park]] in [[Atlanta]], Georgia.]]

Ray's lawyers maintained he was a [[scapegoat]] similar to the way that John F. Kennedy's assassin [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] is seen by [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|conspiracy theorists]].<ref name=CNN1>{{cite news|title=From small-time criminal to notorious assassin|publisher=CNN|url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9804/03/james.ray.profile/|access-date=September 17, 2006|year=1998|archive-date=October 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025032408/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9804/03/james.ray.profile/|url-status=live}}</ref> Supporters of this assertion said that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty.<ref name=cbs/><ref>{{cite book| title= Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia| url= https://archive.org/details/conspiracytheori00knig_851| url-access= limited| last =Knight | first =Peter| page= [https://archive.org/details/conspiracytheori00knig_851/page/n419 402]| isbn= 1-57607-812-4| publisher= ABC-CLIO| year= 2003}}
</ref> They admitted that Ray was a thief and burglar, but claimed that he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon.<ref name=davis/> However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for armed robbery.<ref name=mlkassassin /> In a 2008 interview with [[CNN]], Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. "I never been with nobody as bold as he is," Jerry said. "He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing."<ref name=mlkassassin />

Those suspecting a conspiracy point to the two successive [[ballistics]] tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's [[Remington Arms|Remington]] Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle.<ref name=cbs/><ref name=BBC-WEB1>{{cite news|title=Questions left hanging by James Earl Ray's death|publisher=BBC|date=April 23, 1998|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/82893.stm|access-date=August 27, 2008|archive-date=January 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112023540/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/82893.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Witnesses near King said that the shot came from another location, from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window.<ref name=Gerold>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/americandeathtr00fran/page/283 283]|last= Frank|first=Gerold|author-link=Gerold Frank|year=1972|publisher= Doubleday|title=An American Death: The True Story of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Greatest Manhunt of our Time|url=https://archive.org/details/americandeathtr00fran|url-access=registration}}</ref> However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from.<ref name=mlkassassin>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/28/mlk.ray.case/index.html|title=The case against James Earl Ray|first=James|last=Polk|publisher=CNN|date=December 29, 2008|access-date=July 12, 2014|archive-date=July 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714194427/http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/28/mlk.ray.case/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.<ref name=mlkassassin />

In 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a [[new trial]].<ref name=CNN2>{{cite news|title=James Earl Ray, convicted King assassin, dies|publisher=CNN|date=April 23, 1998|url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9804/23/ray.obit/#2|access-date=September 17, 2006|archive-date=October 29, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061029154237/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9804/23/ray.obit/#2|url-status=live}}</ref> Two years later, King's widow Coretta Scott King and the couple's children, represented by [[William F. Pepper]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Contemporary Controversies and the American Racial Divide|page=[https://archive.org/details/contemporarycont0000smit/page/97 97]|last1=Smith|first1=Robert Charles|first2=Richard|last2=Seltzer|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2000|isbn=0-7425-0025-X|url=https://archive.org/details/contemporarycont0000smit}}</ref> won a [[wrongful death claim]] against [[Loyd Jowers]] and "other unknown co-conspirators". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury found Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy and that government agencies were party to the assassination.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trial Transcript Volume XIV|publisher=The King Center|url=http://www.thekingcenter.org/tkc/trial/Volume14.html|access-date=August 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506041106/http://www.thekingcenter.org/tkc/trial/Volume14.html|archive-date=May 6, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/10/us/dr-king-s-slaying-finally-draws-a-jury-verdict-but-to-little-effect.html |title=Dr. King's Slaying Finally Draws A Jury Verdict, but to Little Effect |author1=Sack, Kevin |author2=Yellin, Emily |date=December 10, 1999 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 20, 2013 |archive-date=January 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126032638/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/10/us/dr-king-s-slaying-finally-draws-a-jury-verdict-but-to-little-effect.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>&nbsp;

In 2000, the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence of conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless new reliable facts are presented.<ref name="usdoj2">{{cite book| title=United States Department of Justice Investigation of Recent Allegations Regarding the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr|chapter=Overview|publisher=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]|date=June 2000|url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/mlk/part1.php|chapter-url=https://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/mlk/part2.php#over|access-date=July 11, 2011 |archive-date=January 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113154920/http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/mlk/part2.php |url-status=dead}}
</ref> A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she corroborated his story to get money to pay her income tax.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/mlk/memphis/memphis2.htm | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | title=The Truth About Memphis | author=Posner, Gerald |date=January 30, 1999 |page=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111161639/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/mlk/memphis/memphis2.htm |archive-date=November 11, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/23/us/loyd-jowers-73-who-claimed-a-role-in-the-killing-of-dr-king.html | work=The New York Times | title=Loyd Jowers, 73, Who Claimed A Role in the Killing of Dr. King | date=May 23, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715182331/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/23/us/loyd-jowers-73-who-claimed-a-role-in-the-killing-of-dr-king.html |archive-date=July 15, 2014}}</ref>

In 2002, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that a church minister, Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson, assassinated King. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way." Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.<ref name=NYTORIG>{{cite news|title=A Minister Says His Father, Now Dead, Killed Dr. King|work=The New York Times|date=April 5, 2002| first=Dana|last=Canedy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/05/us/a-minister-says-his-father-now-dead-killed-dr-king.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110235447/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/05/us/a-minister-says-his-father-now-dead-killed-dr-king.html |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}</ref>

King researchers [[David Garrow]] and [[Gerald Posner]] disagreed with Pepper's claims that the government killed King.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Civil Rights Revolution: Events and Leaders, 1955–1968|last=Sargent|first=Frederic O.|page=129|publisher=McFarland|year=2004|isbn=0-7864-1914-8}}
</ref> In 2003, Pepper published a book about the investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial.<ref>{{cite book|title=An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King|last=Pepper|first=William|page=[https://archive.org/details/actofstateexe00pepp/page/182 182]|publisher=Verso|year=2003|isbn=1-85984-695-5|url=https://archive.org/details/actofstateexe00pepp/page/182}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/the-colours-of-conspiracy/175344.article|title=The colours of conspiracy|last=King|first=Desmond|date=March 14, 2003|work=[[Times Higher Education]]|access-date=January 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129195152/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/the-colours-of-conspiracy/175344.article |archive-date=January 29, 2018}}</ref> James Bevel also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, "There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man."<ref>{{cite book|last=Branch|first=Taylor|title=At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–68|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2006|isbn=978-0-684-85712-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/atcanaansedgeame00bran/page/770 770]|url=https://archive.org/details/atcanaansedgeame00bran/page/770}}
</ref> In 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:

{{blockquote|The fact is there were saboteurs to disrupt the march. And within our own organization, we found a very key person who was on the government payroll. So infiltration within, saboteurs from without and the press attacks.&nbsp;... I will never believe that James Earl Ray had the motive, the money and the mobility to have done it himself. Our government was very involved in setting the stage for and I think the escape route for James Earl Ray.<ref name=Demo>{{cite news|last1=Goodman|first1=Amy|first2=Juan|last2=Gonzalez|title=Jesse Jackson On 'Mad Dean Disease', the 2000 Elections and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King|publisher=[[Democracy Now!]]|date=January 15, 2004|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2004/1/15/rev_jesse_jackson_on_mad_dean|access-date=September 18, 2006|archive-date=February 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219124722/https://www.democracynow.org/2004/1/15/rev_jesse_jackson_on_mad_dean|url-status=live}}</ref>}}