What do you think the motive for Martin Luther King Jr.'s murder most likely was?

[yourhomiebrian]

So many different theories on why MLK was murdered. Everything from racism to the FBI was involved to the guy was just nuts.

My question is what do you think the motive for MLK's murder most likely was? And do you think James Ray is the guy who really did it?

[TheCars1986]

Racism.

James Earl Ray was guilty.

[Killarney Rose]

Hate. Because he was black and trying to help his people. Too many racists that didn’t want that change. Too many feared that change. I was a child back then. But old enough to hear the adults talking.

[Huskerz85]

Race for sure (whether it was Ray himself, or that whole kooky plot hatched by "Raoul")

[BlueGalexy]

I'm embarrassed to say OP that I don't know enough about MLK's assassination to have a truly informed opinion. That said however, my uninformed, knee jerk opinion has always been that his killer wanted to silence him. He was a very public and revered figurehead of a civil rights movement that a lot of people wanted to shut down. IMO James Ray, driven by his hatred, bigotry, and sinister ambitions decided that the best way to achieve that end was to take MLK out. Again, these are only my uninformed opinions.

[Lieutenant Bookman]

Didn’t they find JER’s fingerprints on the murder weapon that was found in the room he was staying at across the street? It seems pretty clear based on what I know that he certainly pulled the trigger. I’m not read up on the case enough to know what the conspiracy theories are that are out there. But I tend to take most conspiracy theories, especially ones involving the government, with a grain of salt. It’s hard to imagine someone not talking or giving a deathbed confession through all of the years if that were the case. I think it was a solo act, likely motivated by either racism or the desire to make himself famous

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Bookman

Didn’t they find JER’s fingerprints on the murder weapon that was found in the room he was staying at across the street? It seems pretty clear based on what I know that he certainly pulled the trigger. I’m not read up on the case enough to know what the conspiracy theories are that are out there. But I tend to take most conspiracy theories, especially ones involving the government, with a grain of salt. It’s hard to imagine someone not talking or giving a deathbed confession through all of the years if that were the case. I think it was a solo act, likely motivated by either racism or the desire to make himself famous

He admitted to buying the rifle. His fingerprints were found on the rifle, as well as a pair of binoculars that were thrown haphazardly next door to the boarding house that he was staying in. He confessed to the murder and said that he was confident that George Wallace would become president and pardon him. The UM segment did a disservice to MLK by producing that segment. Conspiracy theories are borne out of the fact that some people just cannot accept that a lone loser was responsible for taking out an icon and need to invent convoluted and nonsensical theories and scenarios to cope.

[Lieutenant Bookman]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

He admitted to buying the rifle. His fingerprints were found on the rifle, as well as a pair of binoculars that were thrown haphazardly next door to the boarding house that he was staying in. He confessed to the murder and said that he was confident that George Wallace would become president and pardon him. The UM segment did a disservice to MLK by producing that segment. Conspiracy theories are borne out of the fact that some people just cannot accept that a lone loser was responsible for taking out an icon and need to invent convoluted and nonsensical theories and scenarios to cope.

Ya. Admittedly I don’t know as much about the MLK assassination as I do about JFK or some others. But unlike those, I’ve honestly never even heard of an alternative theory on who killed King. I always thought it was pretty clear and universally accepted that it was James Earl Ray

[BlueGalexy]

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Bookman

Ya. Admittedly I don’t know as much about the MLK assassination as I do about JFK or some others. But unlike those, I’ve honestly never even heard of an alternative theory on who killed King. I always thought it was pretty clear and universally accepted that it was James Earl Ray

Same here LB. But I guess if there are still people out there who genuinely believe the earth is flat, than differing opinions on MLK shouldn't really surprise me too much.

[MediaHoarder]

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Bookman

Ya. Admittedly I don’t know as much about the MLK assassination as I do about JFK or some others. But unlike those, I’ve honestly never even heard of an alternative theory on who killed King. I always thought it was pretty clear and universally accepted that it was James Earl Ray

Far from it, the King Family has even been on record stating that they think James Earl Ray was innocent. At least one civil action came to the same conclusion. It is certainly not a fringe viewpoint and various theories have been put forth over the years as to what happened.

A variety of evidence can be presented both ways, but the time he spent on the run following the assassination and the fact that he made it to Heathrow Airport suggests that he had some help in making that kind of escape, it would have taken funds at the minimum which he did not readily have.

As with JFK, various speculation has been put forth as to the involvement of intelligence agencies, criminal organizations, rival civil rights factions, etc.

My own feeling is that the KGB wanted to get rid of him after deciding he could not be used for their purposes. The fact that Ray was caught halfway to the Iron Curtain (claiming to be headed for Africa) is just a "coincidence" I suppose. But like any theory this has its merits and demerits, and several others are quite plausible.

The only evidence that really sways me towards the lone nut theory is that DeLoach claimed until he died that their investigation showed Ray was such.

[BlueGalexy]

Originally Posted by MediaHoarder

Far from it, the King Family has even been on record stating that they think James Earl Ray was innocent. At least one civil action came to the same conclusion. It is certainly not a fringe viewpoint and various theories have been put forth over the years as to what happened.

A variety of evidence can be presented both ways, but the time he spent on the run following the assassination and the fact that he made it to Heathrow Airport suggests that he had some help in making that kind of escape, it would have taken funds at the minimum which he did not readily have.

As with JFK, various speculation has been put forth as to the involvement of intelligence agencies, criminal organizations, rival civil rights factions, etc.

My own feeling is that the KGB wanted to get rid of him after deciding he could not be used for their purposes. The fact that Ray was caught halfway to the Iron Curtain (claiming to be headed for Africa) is just a "coincidence" I suppose. But like any theory this has its merits and demerits, and several others are quite plausible.

The only evidence that really sways me towards the lone nut theory is that DeLoach claimed until he died that their investigation showed Ray was such.

Wow MH...I'd never heard any of this before and it's fascinating to hear additional insights into this case. You've inspired me to look into it further!

[apwgk]

As someone who is anti-conspiracy theories (I believe Oswald acted alone, ditto sirhain, no 5g in vaxxes etc. etc.), the one case where someone poses the question "which is one conspiracy that you believe in," the answer for me is this case.

A petty crook, and a hilariously incompetent one at that, does not change their MO to political assassination all of a sudden. Not to mention this once incompetent crook stays on the run for awhile and gets to London with the whole world looking for him. JER either did it for money under the guidance of someone else or he's innocent.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

motive was hate, and JER obviously is a psychopath. I don't think anything that he says after the fact can be trusted. there is a lot of information presented in the UM segment, it is kind of all over the map and hard to follow. I think it is always tough for us to comprehend death, especially when someone as inspirational as Dr. King dies so young. I do think in this case JER is guilty and acted alone or was affiliated with some type of hate group, but it's important to know that he pulled the trigger and committed the crime. him being put away is just not enough closure for people and for me that is completely understandable. I think Dr. King knew that he was a target and would have attempts made on his life, which is why he spoke the way that he did right before his death.

[XCalibur]

Always been on the fence about this one. Its unclear if James Earl Ray had any particular history of hatred of or violence against African Americans. He was just a petty crook. I don't even think he was known to be in the Ku Klux Klan, something very likely for someone who had an intense enough hatred for blacks to do something like this. He may have been a white supremacist like many people were at the time but that's still a long stretch to murdering their great civil rights icon.

The circumstantial evidence points to him being the shooter. But even if he was, I don't think he acted alone. I do think there was something to the Raul story and he may or may not have been the man called JC Hardin. But who Raul was with or may have worked for or what the motive may have been we can only guess. Could well have been the KKK, or some shady government agency who for whatever reason saw MLK as a threat.

Unfortunately the biggest obstacle to the conspiracy angle was Ray himself, as he up until his death refused to give more info on it.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

Always been on the fence about this one. Its unclear if James Earl Ray had any particular history of hatred of or violence against African Americans. He was just a petty crook. I don't even think he was known to be in the Ku Klux Klan, something very likely for someone who had an intense enough hatred for blacks to do something like this. He may have been a white supremacist like many people were at the time but that's still a long stretch to murdering their great civil rights icon.

The circumstantial evidence points to him being the shooter. But even if he was, I don't think he acted alone. I do think there was something to the Raul story and he may or may not have been the man called JC Hardin. But who Raul was with or may have worked for or what the motive may have been we can only guess. Could well have been the KKK, or some shady government agency who for whatever reason saw MLK as a threat.

Unfortunately the biggest obstacle to the conspiracy angle was Ray himself, as he up until his death refused to give more info on it.

We may never know what his personal motive truly was. If there was no evidence of a conspiracy then all we can wonder is why did he do it? was it for fame? was he crazy? I think it is obvious to point to hate or racism because Dr. King fought so adamantly against those things. But if the FBI did a thorough investigation, then I wonder if they are truly correct when they say there was no evidence of a conspiracy, or did they even put resources to investigate that? of corse IIRC, the FBI in those days were not very friendly to Dr. King, they were harassing him to some degree, which makes me feel there could have been a conflict of interest when it came to his murder investigation. This of corse just adds more ambiguity to everything.