Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassin

1963 was a year of great tragedies and triumphs. In April, King was arrested again during a sit-in in Birmingham, Alabama. While in jail, he wrote his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” responding to white clergy members who criticized his resistance.

Peaceful protests in Birmingham continued, and many demonstrators were arrested, including Black children. When more protesters came to take their place, the police used dogs and fire hoses to subdue the demonstrations. Pictures of Black children being attacked by police dogs and knocked over by fire hoses inspired outrage around the world. These “[u]gly images of racist mobs exposed the evil of racial discrimination in ‘the land of the free’” (53).

In June 1963, President Kennedy finally addressed civil rights, claiming the United States “will not be fully free until all its citizens are free” (53). His speech did nothing to tame the rising tide of racist violence: The next day, the leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Mississippi was shot and killed by white supremacists.

Hoping to build more momentum, the leaders of the civil rights movement organized a public rally called the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.