MLK Assassinated: A Nation Mourns a Leader Lost
James Earl Ray fired from a bathroom window of Bessie Brewer's rooming house at 422.5 South Main Street in Memphis, striking Martin Luther King Jr. as he stood on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel at 6:01 PM on April 4, 1968. The bullet entered King's right cheek, shattered his jaw, traveled down his spinal cord, and lodged in his shoulder. He was 39 years old. Ray fled to Canada, then to London, where he was arrested at Heathrow Airport on June 8. He pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and received a 99-year sentence. Riots erupted in over 100 American cities. Five days later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which King had been advocating for.
April 4, 1968
58 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on April 4
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