8 Famous Political Assassinations That Shook The World

3. Martin Luther King Jr. (USA)

No list of political assassinations would be complete without the mention of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. - the leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement through non-violent disobedience. A Baptist Christian minister, King Jr. changed his name in order to honour German reformer Martin Luther - and was also inspired to lead a movement against the oppression of African-Americans in the USA. Having already orchestrated the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, King Jr then founded the Southern Christian Leadership conference in 1957, before organising mass non-violent protests in Georgia, Alabama and Washington DC - earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1964. Most famously, King delivered his €œI Have a Dream€ speech to a mass crowd after his March on Washington in 1963 - a piece of oratory which inspired African-Americans to continue the Civil Rights Movement, but which also ultimately led to his assassination. While in Memphis, Tennessee, in April 1968, King was staying in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel. He walked out on to his balcony and was shot through his right cheek. Eventually the bullet smashed through his spinal cord and lodged into his shoulder, killing him almost instantly. With race riots erupting in Chicago, Baltimore, Washington DC, Kansas City and many other cities around the US in the immediate aftermath, King Jr€™s death hit the African-American community hard - although it also strengthened their resolve to continue to fight for Civil Rights. Eventually, James Earl Ray - who held a strong prejudice against African-Americans - was arrested at London€™s Heathrow Airport two months after the assassination and charged with the murder, being sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray did however claim that an alias by the name of €œRaoul€ had also been involved in the assassination plot, although this was never proven and no man was ever found.
In this post: 
JFK
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.