Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a very well-loved and respected historical figure. He is widely seen as the leader of America’s Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. Unfortunately, his work surrounding that movement put a target on his back. On April 3rd, 1968, King arrived in Memphis and checked in at the Lorraine Hotel. He was there to show his support for the city’s sanitation workers who were on strike. Across the street from his hotel were a bunch of shoddy, run-down buildings. One of those buildings was actually a living space run by a woman named Bessie Brewer. On the night of April 4th, one of the building’s tenants went to use the communal bathroom and found it locked. We would later learn that the man inside the bathroom at the time was career criminal James Earl Ray.

Ray went into the bathroom with a high-powered rifle and took aim at Dr. King as he stepped out of his hotel room.

Ray immediately went to make his escape after pulling the trigger. As he was leaving the area, he dumped the rifle and his bag at the Canipe Amusement Company’s door. Witnesses reported seeing a white car fleeing the scene at the time. Just two months later, Ray was apprehended. He was in the process of boarding a flight to Brussels from London when the authorities took him in. On March 10th, 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. The judge in his sentencing trial handed him a 99-year consequence. However, Ray had a confession just three days after his conviction:

He was set up.