Ray believed in white supremacy and had strong prejudice against the black people. James Earl Ray From the viewpoint of a man who served time with Ray in prison, then went on to become a journalist, . and condition of the Q64 bullet. 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. The Rays would have had many opportunities to meet racists. None. Ray, a white supporter of segregationist George Wallace, was a career criminal whod been convicted at least four separate times for robbing a cafe, a taxi, a post office and a grocery store. He said not knowing the truth about his fathers assassination had been painful for the family. 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 . Stokely Carmichael of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an extremist Black Nationalist organization, has conferred with King. Hunter Pitts ODell, former National Committee member of the CPUSA, was employed by SCLC. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The ballistics tests proved to be inconclusive and Ray remained in prison. As a loner, it would be impossible for Ray to deal large quantities of drugs, because one of the cliques would simply rob him, and there wouldn't be much he could do, alone, against a clique with a dozen members. 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. Westberg was warned, and hurriedly got out of the box, which was then filled with bread. When ODells position as a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party was revealed in 1961, King supposedly fired him. He was a fervent supporter of George Wallace, the Alabama governor who notoriously gave the 1963 "Segregation Now, Segregation Forever," and he was passionate about emigrating to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to be a part of the white minority in power there at the time. There was, however, some question in our minds about Ray's coordination. 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." . But Westberg had been told that the guard did not open the bread box. All Rights Reserved. Early life [ edit] 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 day after the trial ended, Coretta King held a press conference in Atlanta to praise the decision. What would it have taken for the Goldmans and the Browns to have believed Orenthals story that he was innocent? Even though he played an elitist liberal psychiatrist on "Frasier," Kelsey Grammer is a Republican in real life. people lost faith in the political system. The project, while stopping short of violent riots, nevertheless advocated widespread civil disobedience (a nonviolent, but nevertheless illegal activity) that King said he and 3,000 of his followers planned on staging in Washington that spring. After several days, the prison officials concluded that Ray had actually escaped, and they put out an alarm. The coffee was contraband. When I got out the third time, I worked in the Tag Plant. The King family started to publicly voice the opinion in 1997. He employed such Communists as Bayard Rustin and Hunter Pitts ODell; and he worked closely with Carl Braden and James Dumbrowski. Early Ray fired a single shot by standing in the bathtub of his shared room and balancing the rifle on a window ledge. 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. Benny Edmondson thought it was hilarious that William Bradford Huie thought he was "Raoul." Each day the prison's bakery would bake enough bread to feed not only the 2,300 men at Jeff City, but also the convicts housed at Church Farm and Renz Farm (two satellite honor farms, where most of the prison's food was grown and raised). I've always had trouble accepting Ray as an assassin. 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. I've been amazed over the years at the naivet of authors who have written about Ray's activities in Jeff City; the things they put forth as facts just simply couldn't be true. I served my six months, got out and was put right back in for using amphetamine. Therefore, I challenge your authority to hear it. He is a male registered to vote in Wayne County, Michigan. After his capture, his sentence was extended by one more year to 100 years. The box was picked up, and Ray successfully escaped on April 23, 1967. The New American magazine, published twice a month in print and daily online, is the essential news source for freedom-loving Americans. It is known that, after escaping from Jeff City, James Earl Ray went to Chicago, where Jerry Ray was living. He was a democrat. And, although the FBI later claimed to have interviewed every convict in Jefferson City who had served time with Ray, they never tried to interview me, or Davis, or Laster, or Westberg or anyone I knew. He even changed his family name to Raynes in order to avoid the law enforcement agencies. Just before Ray escaped from prison in Tennessee he was visited by his brother. In only two decades, the white population fell by over 300,000; DC became majority-black in the late 1950s.. King is aware of the possibility of violence because one of his aides proclaimed recently to the press, Jail will be the safest place in Washington this spring.. it near 424 South Main Street, It is highly probable that James Earl Ray stalked Dr. King for a I don't recall that your name's ever been submitted, sir. That caused the Reverend Emanuel Cleaver, then executive director of the Kansas City Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (and now Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri) to send a request to Missouri Gov. Martin Luther King Jr., and there should be no question about that fact. Was James earl ray white? people lost faith in the political system. During this period James Earl Ray was most noticeable as a guy who rented out magazines on the yard. The explanation is much simpler. He was sentenced to 99 years at the State penitentiary. Ray, who was on escape from a Missouri prison in 1968 claimed, however, that he had gone to a service station to get a tire repaired when the shot was fired. Updates? Jerry began to follow my lead, and that became a source of friction among me, Laster and Westberg. It's a seductive thought. . James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to killing Dr. King; he challenged the plea and failed. Once, while pulling a robbery, the victims refused to give Ray the money, and he fell out of a window and damned near killed himself. As the paper continued, it provided documentation that what King planned for after the civil disobedience would not be so innocuous. Still, Ray shot ReverendKing and if the King family wants closure in the matter they should finally accept that fact. Martin Luther King Jr.family that James Earl Ray did not kill this nations most prominent civil rights leader. Ireland. No one else I knew did either. Charley McCracken, a friend from the St. Louis City Jail, pointed him out to me in H-Hall, where the newly arriving convicts at the maximum-security penitentiary were oriented. The date was November 9, 1963. Guys told me he would hound you relentlessly if you owed him a quarter, but he wouldn't threaten you with violence. James Earl Ray was white. 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. In the year 1968, Earl Ray brought a Remington Model 760 Gamemaster .30-06-caliber rifle and a box with 20 cartridges. Ray had seven siblings. King was one of the worst enemies my people ever had. Her reference to my people was to her race, since she was black. Brown was sentenced to five days in jail,[7][15] but was later released on his own recognizance. (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. Stoner certainly wasnt the only radical white supremacist running around, however-just the best known. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick OConnor, the factsor a lack of themdidnt add up. Simpson was found guilty of killing his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman - in a civil trial. Ray, a hardened thief, robber and a sometimes-moody liar, assassinated the Rev. In no uncertain terms, Byrd was calling on Johnson to stop Kings march on D.C. 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. He made the FBI Most Wanted List before his recapture. Over the years, as book after book has been published on the King case, numerous conspiracy theories have been advanced: that the FBI was involved; that the CIA feared King would come out in opposition to the Vietnam War; that rival black leaders felt King's non-violent approach was a hindrance to black progress; that white supremacists wanted him out of the way for obvious reasons. Ray was also Stoner's bodyguard and chauffeur. He simply hounded you (not that Ray was a coward, or afraid to fight, but he wasn't the type to start the fight). Drupal theme by ThemeSnap.com, That is why he could never have been a major drug dealer. Jimmy Carter, in full James Earl Carter, Jr., (born October 1, 1924, Plains, Georgia, U.S.), 39th president of the United States (1977-81), who served as the country's chief executive during a time of serious problems at home and abroad. But a restaurant owner from Memphis was brought to the civil court in the year 1999 for being a part of the murder conspiracy. Spouse/Ex-: Anna Sandhu Ray (m. 19781993), siblings: Carol Pepper, Franklin Ray, Jerry Ray, John Larry Ray, Marjorie Ray, Melba Ray, Suzan Ray, place of death: Nashville, Tennessee, United States, See the events in life of James Earl Ray in Chronological Order, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25196041/james-earl-ray, http://yourblackworld.net/2012/06/23/james-earl-rays-map-used-get-out-prison-being-sold-history-teacher/, https://www.ebay.com/itm/JAMES-EARL-RAY-Mugshot-Glossy-8x10-Photo-Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Print-Poster-/202043577078, https://shannonyarbrough.com/tag/james-earl-ray/, http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-james-earl-ray-the-yankee-who-shot-mlk-burning-in-hell-now. These claims led Kings estate to sue Jowers in 1999 for a symbolic $100 in a wrongful death civil action. [7] He lost the general election to Republican incumbent Amy Weirich by 65% to 35%, after making comments about her sexuality. Don told me later he was stunned; but he knew if he hesitated too long, a guard would catch Ray. Over several decades, federal investigators have routinely concluded that Raoul doesnt exist. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/james-earl-ray-30416.php. Doesnt the controversy between Galileo and the Catholic Church prove this? Its important to note that this verdict was not a criminal conviction, as is sometimes erroneously implied when this case surfaces online. Milteer told the informant that a scheme was in the works to kill President Kennedy. [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. Moreover, Jerry Ray and James Earl Ray are close. Mr. Kershaw was a Tennessee lawyer who argued that James Earl Ray, convicted in the 1968 assassination of the Rev. 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. He got a 99-year prison sentence, which he served until he died of liver failure due to hepatitis C on . McMillans false scenarios portray Ray as a rabid racist in prison. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old convicted armed robber who had escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Mo., on April 23, 1967, pleaded guilty on March 10, 1969, in Shelby County (Tenn.) Criminal Court to the first degree murder of Dr. King. In order to hang onto your drugs, people had to know that you would kill them without hesitation. In 1997, King told Ray personally that both he and his family believed him. He was a skinny guy with sandy hair and a cultured, slightly arrogant manner. Ray confessed to the crime on March 10, 1969 and received a 99-year prison sentence, which increased to a 100-year sentence after he briefly escaped in 1977. From the viewpoint of a man who served time with Ray in prison, then went on to become a journalist, and continued to follow the case, with some emphasis on Ray's mentality, how he escaped from prison, and why there is reason to believe white supremacists may have been behind King's murder. An hour later, he was declared dead. [16] Brown surrendered to the Shelby County Sheriff on August 27, 2015, to serve his five-day sentence at the Shelby County Corrections Facility in Memphis. This is why I believe they steered FBI investigators toward convicts who really didn't know anything. One week prior to Kings assassination on April 4, 1968 he had gone to Memphis to show support for local sanitation workers. While attending law school, Brown worked as a substitute teacher. It contained a pair of binoculars, a newspaper with a story about King staying at the Lorraine Motel, and a .30-06 Remington Gamemaster that had fired one shot. 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. As for how Welch was able to gather such damning information about King when the FBI files on the activist were classified, much has to do with the fact that there were many patriotic members of the FBI and other agencies who recognized that Welch and the society he founded constituted a trustworthy place to reveal what they knew. period immediately preceding the assassination, James Earl Ray fled the scene of the crime immediately after the assassination, James Earl Ray's alibi for the time of the assassination, his story of "Raoul," Laster made several more desperate attempts to escape, including one attempt to saw out of death row (during which a guard captain was blinded). (153) However, the assessment of King got even worse. In the course of our conversation, I pressed him for details regarding drug sales or any other illegal activities in which staff and/or inmates might have been involved. Benny was fascinated with the idea of escaping, although he never actually tried while inside the walls. All rights reserved. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law, and it was first recognized three years later. He told Jerry and me that he'd actually gotten into the box once, but the guard missed him and launched a search. Happy 300th Birthday, Richard Price! 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. All the seven prisoners who escaped from the prison were recaptured within two days and sent back to the prison. In the year 1977, Ray escaped from the prison for the second time along with six other convicts from the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary located in Petros, Tennessee. There are records of Ray receiving plastic surgery in Los Angeles about a month before Kings murder in Memphis. His law license was entered on the disability inactive list (suspending his ability to practice law in Tennessee), and the discipline case was placed on indefinite hold until such a time as Brown is healthy enough to face the complaint. . Back in Memphis, Ray pleaded guilty, forfeiting a trial, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Most recently, after Ray's death in . While he was still in Los Angeles, Ray had the desire to immigrate to Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) where a white minority regime declared independence from England in the year 1965. Also available from Amazon, With the purpose of writing about true crime in an authoritative, fact-based manner, veteran journalists J. J. Maloney and J. Patrick OConnor launched Crime Magazine in November of 1998. 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. 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. Raised in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, Brown graduated as valedictorian[full citation needed] from Dorsey High School. 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. Kershaw made Ray to take a polygraph test as part of an interview with Playboy. King was fired. When The John Birch Society first made Kings communist connections known almost 50 years ago, most people were skeptical. The same NSRP member said there were plans to kill Martin Luther King. 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. It was then learned he'd been the site engineer for the West German Pavilion at Expo '67 in Montreal. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joe_Brown_(judge)&oldid=1134528878, This page was last edited on 19 January 2023, at 03:56. Brown has spoken about how his upbringing shaped his philosophy. 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. Never afraid to share his political views, Grammer is known for his conservative values. Riots erupted in Memphis; one person was killed and sixty were injured. Stoner is the following: Over the years, state and federal authorities have come to suspect that Stoner's violent rhetoric cannot be dismissed merely as fascist ravings. There it was once again: A belief from the Rev. 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. He edited most of the chapters of Kings book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? James Earl Ray did it, case closed! 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. Kelsey Grammer. In June 1977 Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain (Tennessee) Prison and remained at large for 54 hours before being recaptured in a massive manhunt. (In the period 1963-64, there were 550 serious assaults inside Jefferson City, including hundreds of stabbings, which is why, An egregious example of shoddy workmanship is the book. He was of Irish, Scots, and Welsh ancestry. UN Pushing New Age Spirituality on Schoolchildren, Arizona Poised to Make Pledge of Allegiance Mandatory in Schools. The massive publicity surrounding Benny's capture caused Gold Medal Books to contact him and ask him to write 20,000 words of autobiographical data, so they could bring out an "instant" paperback book about him. After buying the rifle, he came back to Atlanta where he came to know that King was planning a return trip to Memphis, Tennessee. Some in the community took offense to this assertion since the incident took place during Brown's Shelby County district attorney campaign and Brown brought his own lawyer with him during the 2014 incident, causing many to wonder if it was a ploy for publicity. 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. What Political Party was James Earl Ray part of? The shot that killed Dr. King was fired from the bathroom window at the six grooves with a right twist. 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. James Earl Ray, who pleaded guilty to assassinating King, was renting a room above Jower's establishment and was allegedly an unwitting scapegoat. 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. At that time, King was well aware of Levisons and ODells communist affiliations. The Revenge of George Wallace Milteer, a Stoner associate, as he discussed NSRP plans with a Miami police informer. pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband.. Born in a poor family, Ray had a difficult childhood as his father could not support his family. George M. Camp, head of the Missouri prison system, wrote to Cleaver, saying: My findings are that there is nothing whatsoever to substantiate any conclusion that James Earl Ray financed either his escape or his activities after his escape through any means while he was an inmate at the Missouri State Penitentiary. Judge Horne did have the authority to hold him in contempt. Also, after he moved to St. Louis he lived in south St. Louis, an area known for its racism. He volunteered for Wallaces campaign and was very disappointed when Wallace could not win the campaign. 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. With the release of this FBI document, however, it seems that the FBI and the JBS were on the same page regarding King. 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. [3] Brown has spoken about how his upbringing shaped his philosophy. 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. "[21], Brown was warned that he would be held in contempt before these comments. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. We miss you, James. James. Rays father forged a check and hence had to shift his family to Ewing, Missouri to escape enforcement authorities. "[10], In August 2015, Brown served five days in the Shelby County Jail after having been held in contempt of court in March 2014. Now confident that he could not be recognized, he again began a cross-country drive to Atlanta, Georgia. It endangers the premise of the place. A confirmed racist and small-time criminal, James Earl Ray began plotting the assassination of revered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in early 1968. Under the sub-head Communist Exposed, the paper went on to reveal more about ODell: King was forced to get rid of Hunter Pitts ODell in October, 1962, when several newspaper articles exposed ODells connection with SCLC and his communist affiliations. On January 26, 1976, My findings are that there is nothing whatsoever to substantiate any conclusion that James Earl Ray financed either his escape or his activities after his escape through any means while he was an inmate at the Missouri State Penitentiary. This list details the strange, unstable life of James Earl Ray, a man who confessed to and then spent his life denyingthe murder of Martin Luther King Jr. In 1977, New Times magazine suggested that Jerry Ray and "Raoul" were one and the same. Along with the rifle, he also bought a 2X-7X scope to aim the target well. [18][24][25], This article is about the person. He is the one who sits in leadership and is the most powerful person of a country. James Earl Ray was born in a poor family on March 10, 1928 in Alton, Illinois, USA. The restaurant owner named Memphis Police . Joseph Blakeney Brown Jr. (born July 5, 1947), known as Judge Joe Brown, is a former American lawyer and television personality. The House Assassinations Committee examining evidence in the killing of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images). He was transferred to the maximum security facility called Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility in Nashville which had hospital facilities. An egregious example of shoddy workmanship is the book The Making of an Assassin by George McMillan. A staunch segregationist, Earl Ray could not stomach the integration policies of King. Davis and Laster were both shot during that attempt. The introduction to the paper observed that since 1956, King had occupied a prominent role in the drive for equal rights for Negroes in the Untied States. It continued by noting, The course King chooses to follow at this critical time could have momentous impact on the future of race relations in the United States, and for that reason this paper has been prepared to give some insight into the nature of the man himself as well as the nature of his views, goals, objective, tactics, and the reason therefore., The papers summary of Kings planned Washington Spring project is contrary to the image of King painted by most historians as a man who employed only the most peaceful means. 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). (Benny had taken two years of civil engineering in college.). FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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. Manhunt in the mountains: James Earl Ray and the Brushy Mountain Prison breakout of 1977, How The Tennessean covered Martin Luther King Jr.'s death in its pages, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The bread box would have to pass through the truck tunnel, where all incoming and outgoing vehicles were searched. And by the way, what is that, Magistrate, sir, with due respect. Some even said Ray was a racist, but he claimed to me that he was never hostile toward anyone. 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. Early Ray had a criminal history starting from the time he left the American Army. Martin Luther King Jr. Because Ray had previously tried to escape by hiding out inside the prison, the officials assumed this was another bungled attempt, and they began a meticulous search of the prison, which covered 47 acres. Over the years, parties other than Ray have filed additional lawsuits related to the assassination. 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. Speech of Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senate Journal, Appendix Two, March 29, 1968. Meet racists as part of avoid the law enforcement agencies about his fathers assassination had been told the. He moved to St. Louis, an area known for its racism never! The Goldmans and the same NSRP member said there were plans to kill President Kennedy Ray & # x27 s... Month in print and daily online, is the most powerful person of country! Praise the decision stunned ; but he would be held in contempt before comments. Convicted in the bathtub of his shared room and balancing the rifle, he again began cross-country. ], this article ( requires login ) forged a check and hence had to shift family... Holiday into law, and that became a source of friction among me, Laster and.. A guard would catch Ray portray Ray as a member of the worst enemies people. Memphis ; one person was killed and sixty were injured George McMillan Memphis to support... 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