1968 Assassination of Martin Luther King

50 years ago, on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, Martin Luther King, a clergyman, a leader in the struggle for civil rights of blacks in the United States and a principled supporter of non-violent protest methods, was assassinated. He was shot by a sniper while standing on the balcony at the Lorraine Motel.

The assassination sparked African American riots in more than a hundred American cities. 48 people were killed and 2.5 thousand wounded. 70,000 National Guard soldiers were deployed to quell the riots.

King's killer, white supremacist James Earl Ray, received 99 years in prison and died in 1998. It was acknowledged that he acted alone.

We must never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal". In Nazi Germany it was "illegal" to help Jews. But I am sure that if I lived in Germany at that time, I would still help my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a communist country where the most important principles of the Christian faith are trampled, I would openly advocate disobedience to the anti-religious laws of this country.

(Martin Luther King, Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963)