PBS American Experience just aired a fascinating program on this event. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/memphis/ It didn't go at all into Ray's protestations or stories of mysterious accomplices, just listed the reasons he was a suspect, his motivations, and detailed the manhunt for him.

Does anyone remember this firsthand? I must confess my earliest memory of any news event is of Bobby Kennedy's assassination and that is very incomplete.

There seems to be some discrepancy in the timeline, about where Jesse Jackson was when Dr. King was shot. Someone said in regard to the infamous "bloody shirt" episode that Jesse "wasn't even around to help put Martin in the car," but someone on this program described Martin having a conversation with Jesse just prior to being shot. Can anyone clear this up?

bump. I would like to know.

I don;t know as much about teh MLK assasination as I do about JFK and RFK.

I do know there are still some question marks in the case.

For the record, I believe in conspiracy for JFK assasination but not for RFK.

For the record, I believe in conspiracy for JFK assasination but not for RFK.

Sorry, I am the opposite. It wasn't any sad coincidence that RFK was shot going through the back/kitchen entrance. They had an Arab with a gun at every door. JFK, on the other hand, I'm convinced Oswald did entirely on his own with few, if any, others. It was a bad impulse on Jack Ruby's part which led to an entire conspiracy industry--unfortunate for the truth but lucky for everyone with a story to sell! (Of course, even when there is a conspiracy and a survivor, people don't always talk. Sirhan hasn't in all these years.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mastermind
For the record, I believe in conspiracy for JFK assasination but not for RFK.

Sorry, I am the opposite. It wasn't any sad coincidence that RFK was shot going through the back/kitchen entrance. They had an Arab with a gun at every door. JFK, on the other hand, I'm convinced Oswald did entirely on his own with few, if any, others. It was a bad impulse on Jack Ruby's part which led to an entire conspiracy industry--unfortunate for the truth but lucky for everyone with a story to sell! (Of course, even when there is a conspiracy and a survivor, people don't always talk. Sirhan hasn't in all these years.)


This is too long and detailed a discussion to have on this board.

But I'll leave some reasons why I believe JFK conspiracy.

To sum up. I do not believe the answer to the JFK case is as simple as Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK alone, and Jack Ruby killed Oswald alone.

1. The only reason to have a coverup is because something differs from the truth. There are hundreds of federal documents on this case that were smudged and destroyed...

Why?

What is there that need to be
a. What possible national security risk could a single lone assassin have to the US govt? What secrets are there? Lee Harvey Oswald is supposed to have no connections to the US govt? What's there to censor?
b. If the information that was censored contains nothing..then there was no reason to censor it in the first place.

You can;t cover up something, if there's nothing to cover up.

2. Oswald first shot ( the closest shot) at the president misses completely. His second shot misses JFKs head and begins the most amazingly locky richocet shot. he actually damages two people with the richochet.
Then the last shot, the furthest shot (sweat pouring, adrenaline running) Oswald manages to completely explode JFKs head.

The above might be the most unusual piece of shooting in history.

3. If Lee Harvey Oswald was pro-Cuba...where are his pro-Cuban friends? All the acquaintance of Oswald are rabid anti-Communists. The killing of JFK is more of a anti-Cuban action than a pro-Cuban action.

4. It was an even mix

5. Why has no-one found this "Howard Hunt" that was listed in Oswalds book? Everyone else has been found in Oswald's book?

6. Contrary to Posner's book, Jack Ruby did have mafia connections. He was a nightclub owner!!! Look at the people that went to his bar?? Tons of mobsters frequented it. He also was believed to partake in prostitution..a profession that certainly has mob connotations.

I believe all three with conspiracies. I think Martin Luther King Jr.'s son meet with Ray a few years ago and seem to think there was more to the story. I think Ray died around that time, but I could be wrong. Its no secret the Feds were bugging MLK Jr., Hoover's excuse was the extra-material stuff, but really they were terrified of him probably trying to get dirt to blackmail him. Hoover was a joke as the head of the FBI and most cases were usually solved by other people while he took the credit. Hoover blackmailed everyone to keep his job since the FBI's legal limits where not as defined as they are now. I don't think Ray acted alone. Yet, I doubt the Feds are involved since blackmail would have been easier on someone like MLK JR, there was no need to kill him unless it was to prove a point to the black community not mess with the Feds. If that was the idea, it clearly backfired.

RFK is probably the easiest one to point to a conspiracy. There were to many variables that made it impossible not to think there was a conspiracy. Sirhan Sirhan's weird background, the fact that Secret Service was totally out of it and the fact he was the last one to get shot. I think whoever was behind the assassination was obviously behind the JFK assassination. They got real slopppy on that one and probably realized killing all of these people in public is going to lead back to them. In fact, a number of trustworthy news investigation pointed the finger at the CIA even during the Cold War era media which was way more conservative then Fox is now. Whoever ordered the killings helped get in Nixon into office after getting LBJ. It was only after Nixon got out of Vietnam that Watergate got enough juice that he got thrown out. I think the Vietnam War was the one of primary reasons for the Kennedy Assassinations. The fact the people who ordered those murders got the war they wanted probably the fat checks to, yet the irony it is considering the greatest single American disaster to date even tough the Iraqi War is running a close second.

As for JFK. You do enough digging on that and the lone gunmen theory falls apart. Too many witnesses running to the grassy knoll, the magic bullet which I did confront Senator Spector about and the origins of Oswald as well as Ruby calls the entire thing into question. Whoever pulled this off, probably got away with the greatest American murder. They played it well with keeping the media on a straight line to the funeral then the Oswald murder. I would suggest watching the JFK DVD with the Oliver Stone commentary where he admits the errors of his own case while still standing by a good chunk of it. The entire assissination was about creating chaos for the murder in a way no one could guess who did it or who was involved. It was picture perfect.

Was this on any of the UM dvd's or anywhere else? was a great Unsolved Mystery broadcast.