In the 1950s, Ray became notorious as a petty criminal, and by the end of the decade he was a failed pornographer who had served some jail time and successfully completed a prison escape. As an indication of just how much Robert Welch, the Founder of The John Birch Society, was on top of Kings communist connection, he wrote the following words for May 1968 John Birch Society Bulletin just two months after the FBI report, which had been classified as secret: During this career of a brief dozen years, [King] was constantly surrounded by, and associated with, Communists. He admitted to staying at the rooming house from where authorities said the bullet that struck Rev. Milteer told the informant that a scheme was in the works to kill President Kennedy. He was sentenced to 99 years at the State penitentiary. Benny taught me how to type. Just before Ray escaped from prison in Tennessee he was visited by his brother. Ray, who was on escape from a Missouri prison in 1968 claimed, however, that he had gone to a service station to get a tire repaired when the shot was fired. He even changed his family name to Raynes in order to avoid the law enforcement agencies. James Earl Ray (born 1965) is listed at 42036 Queen Anne Ct Northville, Mi 48167 and has no known political party affiliation. As the paper notes: Through Levisons influence, other subversives were attracted to SCLC [The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King helped found]. So, are there are still remaining questions about how everything happened the day of Kings assassination? Some even said Ray was a racist, but he claimed to me that he was never hostile toward anyone. It seems clear to me that there was a conspiracy to murder King, and that James Earl Ray was involved. Declassified FBI Paper Reveals Communist Associates of Martin Luther King, UN Biodiversity Beijing-Wall Street Convergence. Over several decades, federal investigators have routinely concluded that Raoul doesnt exist. Different convicts had different hustles to make money. Further information about this communist was found in the book, Its Very Simple: The True Story of Civil Rights, by the late author and speaker Alan Stang. Although it is possible to live in the same prison with someone for 10 years and never speak to him, it is still an intimate atmosphere. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at wmass@thenewamerican.com. He might have eked out enough money to meet his basic needs (he didn't smoke), but not much more than that. We had no contact, however, since he was on the other side of the building. They would rather ignore the facts than become disillusioned. McMillans false scenarios portray Ray as a rabid racist in prison. Levison has spent the major part of his life advancing communist interests. The facts are these. With the release of this FBI document, however, it seems that the FBI and the JBS were on the same page regarding King. As a reporter and columnist for this newspaper, I had the chance to interview the incarcerated Ray numerous times before his death on April 23, 1998. Although Benny was eventually released from prison and returned to work for the engineering firm he'd been employed by at the time of his arrest in Canada, interest in him by then had died out, and the book was never published. King was fired. Riots erupted in Memphis; one person was killed and sixty were injured. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Therefore, ironically, the society that King intended to bear the cost for his civil disobedience was to be ablack society. Jerry Ray told me in the 1970s he had taken pictures of the countryside around the prison and had sent them into James Earl Ray. James Earl Ray lowers his head as State Safety commissioner Greg O'Rear, white hat, and Highway Patrol Maj. Mickey McGuire, dark glasses, lead him to prison in Nashville, Tenn., March 11, 1969. The FBI paper then named another communist whose name is very familiar to those who have read articles about Kings communist connections in The New American, its predecessor magazine, American Opinion, and the monthly bulletins of The John Birch Society, the parent organization of both publications. Page 388 also a racist, was allegedly connected with the late Leander Perez, Louisiana political boss and virulent segregationist. It was a theory she maintained until her death in 2006 that has so far never been proven. In the hours and days after the Tucson shootings, the left wing media in America attempted to blame the Tea Party and right wing rhetoric for the deaths of six and the injuries of thirteen. On the night of April 4, 1968 50 years ago now James Earl Ray killed the Rev. There is an important flaw in that logic as well; the defendant was only sued for $100, which he was ordered to pay. When ODells position as a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party was revealed in 1961, King supposedly fired him. The box was picked up, and Ray successfully escaped on April 23, 1967. His prints were found all over the hotel room in Memphis where the shots that killed King were thought to have come from, and they covered the murder weapon -a Remington hunting rifle he purchased in Birmingham, AL. I served my six months, got out and was put right back in for using amphetamine. You would also know who had just gotten a shipment of dope. There was, however, some question in our minds about Ray's coordination. and other allegedly exculpatory evidence are not worthy of belief. Judge Horne began increasing the quantity of days Brown could be held in contempt after Brown continued disrupting the court. Kelsey Grammer. The restaurant owner named Memphis Police . In 1977, New Times magazine suggested that Jerry Ray and "Raoul" were one and the same. But among legal and historical scholars, there is a broad consensus that James Earl Ray, though he may not have acted alone, is the gunman who shot Martin Luther King. James Earl Ray Sirhan Sirhan Jack Ruby. McMillan is the primary source for the widespread belief that Ray was a major drug dealer in Jeff City; that he smuggled large sums of money out of prison; that he used that money to finance his travels after his escape. He is a former Shelby County, Tennessee Criminal Court judge and a former arbiter of the arbitration-based reality court show Judge Joe Brown. After reading about the news in newspapers, he immediately drove to Memphis. Once, while pulling a robbery, the victims refused to give Ray the money, and he fell out of a window and damned near killed himself. George M. Camp, head of the Missouri prison system, wrote to Cleaver, saying: My findings are that there is nothing whatsoever to substantiate any conclusion that James Earl Ray financed either his escape or his activities after his escape through any means while he was an inmate at the Missouri State Penitentiary. Ray died on April 23, 1998 at the Columbia Nashville Memorial Hospital due to Hepatitis C at the age of 70. If you saw the movie Boyz n the Hood, that was the way I grew up. He was named after the church where his father held his first pastorate. On Feb. 17, 1997, while working for The Tennessean, I sat in the office of ReverendKings youngest son, Dexter, then chairman, president and chief executive officer of the King Center for Non Violent Social Change in Atlanta, as he told me why his family felt Ray should have a new trial. Weeks before Kennedy was killed an informant quoted an NSRP member saying it would happen, and providing details that coincide with what did happen in Dallas. When James Earl Ray bought the rifle that killed King, he mentioned that he was going hunting with his brother. For example, if you worked in the laundry you could charge people to starch and iron their clothes. It was even rumored that on the second attempt he'd gotten tired of hiding out, and had deliberately set off an alarm so he could get caught and get something to eat. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Brown, who retains his law license, was reviewing a child support matter as a favor to an acquaintance. Then Benny was transferred to L-Hall, an honor unit just outside the walls of the main penitentiary. Brown was thrust into the national spotlight while presiding over James Earl Ray's last appeal of his conviction for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Brown was removed from the reopened investigation of King's murder due to alleged bias. Some have indicated that King vs. Jowers was nothing more than a promotional stunt. [16] Brown surrendered to the Shelby County Sheriff on August 27, 2015, to serve his five-day sentence at the Shelby County Corrections Facility in Memphis. [23] After his release, he compared himself to notable civil rights activists who spent significant time imprisoned for their activism like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Stokely Carmichael. I have respect for the King family, however, as thousands of people converge on Memphis and in other places on Wednesday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of MLKs death, the King family is dead wrong. The President, Milteer said, would be shot "from an office building with a high-powered rifle," and a patsy would be picked up within hours . Raised in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, Brown graduated as valedictorian[full citation needed] from Dorsey High School. It was then learned he'd been the site engineer for the West German Pavilion at Expo '67 in Montreal. He paid for a nose job in cash. It would later be learned that Ray's classification card contained erroneous fingerprints, which were initially distributed nationally. Anyone who remembers the looks on their faces, their resolve and their anger would have to concede that it would have required nothing short of cold hard facts. After the King shooting, one person living at the rooming house where the shot was fired described the assassin as heavy set with receding hair. Ray was born in Alton, IL,in 1928, the son of working class Scots-Irish parents. King vs. Loyd Jowers and conspirators unknown. We got involved in several schemes, but our lack of mobility made it difficult to function. As one example, Dan Smoot, a former FBI agent, was a steadfast anti-Communist who became associated with The John Birch Society and wrote for the societys American Opinion and The Review Of The News magazines. By that time I was classified as incorrigible. Weirich responded: "Its a sad day that someone that out of touch with reality considers himself a viable candidate for one of the important positions in Shelby County. King was shot by Earl Ray when the former was standing in the balcony of his motel room. For years after Ray's capture there was a close association between Stoner and Jerry Ray, James Earl Ray's brother. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Ostensibly only a New York City attorney and businessman, Levison is, in fact, a shrewd, dedicated communist. 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