DATE=1/14/2000
TYPE=ENGLISH PROGRAMS FEATURE
TITLE=KING ASSASSINATION CONSPIRACY (CORRECTED AGAIN)
NUMBER=7-33295
BYLINE=JOSHUA LEVS
DATELINE=ATLANTA, GEORGIA
EDITOR=FAITH LAPIDUS
TELEPHONE=619-0720 (EDITOR)
CONTENT=
_
EDITORS: Updated text; CORRECTION IN CUT FOUR;
actualities will be available in Audio Services on
12/14
INTRO: On the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s
birth (1/15, observed 1/17 this year),
Americans remember the civil rights leader who
was assassinated while trying to achieve
equality for African-Americans. For members
of Dr. King's family, this year's celebration
is different from any other, because for the
first time they feel the truth about his
murder has been exposed. From the King
family's hometown of Atlanta, Joshua Levs
reports.
TEXT: In December, a jury in Memphis, Tennessee
ruled that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death was
the result of a conspiracy. The original
investigation in 1969 had determined that Dr.
King was assassinated by a racist named James
Earl Ray, who had acted on his own. Ray pled
guilty as part of a plea bargain, and was
sentenced to life in prison. But he soon
claimed he was actually innocent and had been
forced into his plea - a position he
maintained until his death two years ago.
Although Ray never had a trial, the King
family believed him, and felt the real killers
had not been brought to justice. Then, after
Ray's death, the Kings launched a civil
lawsuit against a man named Lloyd Jowers, who
once told a television news crew that he was
part of a plot to kill Dr. King. The Memphis
jury ruled that a conspiracy involving Jowers
and others, including some U-S government
officials, led to the assassination. At a news
conference, Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott
King, called it the moment she had waited for.
TAPE: CUT 1 - KING
"This verdict is not only a great victory for
my family, but also a great victory for
America and a great victory for truth itself."
TEXT: Mrs. King said the verdict validated what her
family has long believed.
TAPE: CUT 2 - KING
"The Jury was clearly convinced by the
extensive evidence that, in addition to Mr.
Jowers, a conspiracy of the mafia, local,
state and federal government agencies was
deeply involved in the assassination of my
husband."
TEXT: The family's attorney, William Pepper, spoke
about some of that evidence -- photographs of
the shooting that he says the government
concealed, witnesses who said the fatal shots
were fired from the bushes rather than from a
motel room across the street, and people who
identified a man that they believe framed
James Earl Ray. Witnesses also testified that
many groups, including U-S government
agencies, were threatened by Dr. King's
attempts to change the status quo. The FBI
has admitted that it harassed him and his
family, and federal agents allegedly
threatened his life.
Attorney William Pepper insists a complex web
of conspiracy led to the assassination and
authorities could have found out about all of
it in their original investigation.
TAPE: CUT 3 - PEPPER
"All this evidence was there. They could have
solved it in 7 days if they had wanted to. And
it's taken 32 years."
TEXT: However, not everyone is convinced that there
was such a broad conspiracy. Many historians
believe James Earl Ray was the assassin, and
that if he had help, it came from a small
group of private citizens, not from the FBI or
other law enforcement agencies. Congress said
as much when it looked into the assassination
in the 1970's. The Memphis District Attorney's
office insists there's plenty of evidence
suggesting that the King family's conspiracy
theory is wrong. Assistant D.A. John Campbell
says the ideas William Pepper laid out in
civil court will not lead to any criminal
trials.
TAPE: CUT 4 - CAMPBELL
"There is just nothing credible there to base
a prosecution on. And quite frankly it appears
from our investigation that he's making the
whole thing up. We're not going to prosecute
someone if HE CLAIMS they're involved - and in
fact we believe they're not. So that's in a
nutshell why we don't intend to go forward
with a prosecution on it."
TEXT: Mr. Campbell says the Memphis decision will
not change the historical record. But for the
King family, it changes everything. Dexter
Scott King says now that everything the family
believes about his father's murder is on an
official government record and 12 jurors have
deemed it truthful, the family's long struggle
has reached a bittersweet conclusion.
TAPE: CUT 5 - KING
"Sweet because finally we know what happened.
Sweet because this family has been vindicated.
Sweet because we can say that we are truly
free at last."
TEXT: Dexter King said his family will no longer ask
the government to open a full-scale
investigation into the assassination.
Instead, they will begin the long-awaited
process of putting the events of 1968 behind
them and focus on healing. For VOA News Now,
I'm Joshua Levs in Atlanta.
NEB/JL/FIL
14-Jan-2000 15:33 PM EDT (14-Jan-2000 2033 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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