News / Reports

“US govt. had hand in Martin Luther King assassination”

Monday, 19 January 2015 8:35 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 19 January 2015 8:35 AM ]

US govt. had hand in Martin Luther King assassination

On April 4th, 1968, Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis Tennessee supporting a strike of sanitation workers. King had recently denounced the Vietnam war, and called for a massive reduction of military spending. At 6:01 in the evening, King was shot while standing on a hotel balcony.

At the time of his death, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had established a program called COINTELPRO, designed to monitor and suppress the emerging civil rights and peace movements.

According to FBI documents now made public, the Bureau sent King a letter urging him to commit suicide in 1964, and attempted to discredit him by issuing false media reports. Civil Rights leader Larry Holmes says the government’s efforts to destroy King did not stop there.

In 1999, King's surviving relatives filed a lawsuit in a Memphis court, claiming they could prove government involvement in the assassination. The jury ruled in their favor, after looking over a number of documents, and hearing hours of testimony.

While Martin Luther King was alive, the US media portrayed him as crazed extremist and radical. Now, decades after his death, a national holiday commemorates him every year, and he is remembered as a national hero. As the streets of US cities once again fill with protesters decrying racism, many say they are still unsatisfied with the official account of how this iconic figure was killed at the young age of 39.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

Martin Luther King