This week in Christian history: MLK assassinated; crusading king captured
MLK assassinated – April 4, 1968
This week marks the anniversary of famed civil rights activist and Baptist minister Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
King was among the most well-known American civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 1960s, giving his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington in 1963.
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In addition to advocating for nonviolent civil disobedience, King co-pastored Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, with his father, Martin Luther King Sr.
Days after his assassination on April 8, King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, joined thousands in marching in the streets of Memphis. On April 9, King’s funeral in Atlanta was nationally televised. Over 100,000 mourners participated in a 3.5-mile funeral procession to Morehouse College, where a second funeral service was conducted, according to the Civil Rights Digital Library Initiative.
After a two-month global manhunt, James Earl Ray was charged with King’s murder and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
