At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, a shot rang out. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., who had been standing on the balcony of his room at the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, now lay sprawled on the balcony's floor.
A gaping wound covered a large portion of his jaw and neck. A great man
who had spent thirteen years of his life dedicating himself to
nonviolent protest had been felled by a sniper's bullet.
Violence and controversy followed. In outrage of the murder,
many blacks took to the streets across the country in a massive wave of
riots. The FBI investigated the crime, but many believed them partially
of fully responsible for the assassination. A man was arrested, but
many people, including some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s own family,
believe he was innocent.
