apr 4, 1968 - MLK Assassinated

Description:

Martin Luther King, Jr was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.

James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested on June 8, 1968, in London at Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States, and charged with the crime.

On March 10, 1969, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary.

Post-assassination rioting broke out across the country in major cities shortly after.

In addition, for some, King's assassination meant the end of the strategy of nonviolence.

Others in the movement reaffirmed the need to carry on King's and the movement's work.

Regardless, MLK's death had a profound effect on the US.