Martin Luther King Jr.

<infobox> <title source="name"/> <image source="image">

</image> <group> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Relatives</label> <label>Affiliation</label> </group> <group> <header>Biographical information</header> <label>Marital status</label> <label>Date of birth</label> <label>Place of birth</label> <label>Date of death</label> <label>Place of death</label> </group> <group> <header>Physical description</header> <label>Species</label> <label>Gender</label> <label>Height</label> <label>Weight</label> <label>Eye color</label> </group> </infobox>Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister, socialist and black activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Born in Atlanta, King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi.

Assassination

Shooting

Standing on a second-floor balcony at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, King was shot to death.

Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories around the shooting argue that James either did not act alone or was not even the shooter.

Evidence For

• Soloman Jones, a volunteer who often drove King around town when he was in Memphis. After he heard the shots, he ran into the street. He related what he saw to the police that night, "I could see a person in the thicket on the west side of Mulberry with his back to me, looked like he had a [white] hood over his head." The next day, Memphis public work employees removed the bushes, destroying the crime scene.
• In 1979, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) released a report stating that there was a likelihood of conspiracy in the assassination of King. However, the committee believed that the government was not involved, and it was an action by white supremacists.
• In 1997, tests on the bullets that killed King did not match the bullets fired by the rifle owned by James.
• In 1999, a mixed-race Memphis jury ruled that the local, state and federal governments were liable for King’s death.

Evidence Against

• In 2000, the Department of Justice completed their own investigation into Jowers' claims; it did not find evidence to support the allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommends no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented.

Riots

The King assassination riots, also known as the Holy Week Uprising, was a wave of civil disturbance which swept the United States following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. It was the greatest wave of social unrest the United States had experienced since the Civil War. Some of the biggest riots took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and Kansas City.