The Plot to Kill King

I've read enough books to be convinced that the CIA assassinated JFK as retribution for his refusal to conduct a full-on invasion of Cuba after the Bay of Pigs debacle and otherwise displeasing the powers that be. But I think it's not unreasonable to be skeptical of the conspiracy theory. There's not enough declassified evidence to satisfy the ardent supporters & maintainers of the status quo. Maybe when more is released, the history can be more thoroughly reevaluated that would prevent corporate media from being able to continually deny reality.

Comparably, the conspiracy to assassinate MLK by the FBI and Memphis Police Department is SO UNDENIABLY TRUE, that no rational person could possibly refute the MOUNTAIN of evidence. It is night and day.

The author has spent decades conducting interviews and calling for new trials on this assassination. His investigation is incredibly thorough. Throughout it, he has been stymied by federal officials stalking him, bullying his witnesses, and refusing to cooperate in any way.

“Skeptics” often use the semantic satiation phrase “if it were a conspiracy, then hundreds of people would have to be in on it! Surely someone would have talked by now.” But what's clear is that people have talked! At least 70 different people have gone on the record in a court of law arguing that the official story about the assassination is false. These are people who were there at the day, who've overheard conversations by police, who spoke to witnesses that end up getting mysteriously killed, even people involved have admitted their involvement. It is truly baffling how thorough the author's investigation is.

In 1999, the author and the King family filed a Civil case against

70+ people have come forward to speak on the record in a civil trial in 1999 that proved James Earl Ray was an unwitting patsy and a conspiracy orchestrated by the FBI in cooperation with the Memphis Police Department and US Army Intelligence. Why didn't you ever hear about this trial?

“Some seventy witnesses and thirty days later, a jury took fifty-nine minutes to find for the King family and against Loyd Jowers and agents of the government of the United States, the state of Tennessee, and the city of Memphis. Jowers's liability was assessed at 30 percent, while the government's liability was put at 70 percent. The extraordinary array of verbal testimonial and documentary evidence is set out in detail in my second book An Act of State. Suffice it to say, the roles and link between the Mafia, the military, local law enforcement, and government officials became crystal clear.”

Where was the media for this trial?

“The media camera, like the media itself, would come and go. They were nearly always absent, with the notable and sole exception of local anchorman Wendell Stacey, who almost lost his job at the time over his insistence that he attend every day. He was eventually fired but won a wrongful dismissal action and was rehired.”

Truth to fucking power indeed.

The author not only thoroughly debunks the US government's official story with mountains of evidence, but even annihilates other authors who wrote books that reinforced the government's official story, pointing out all of the blatant ignoring of contrary evidence, distortion of the evidence they do use, and outright fabrication.

It is inherently dishonest and disingenuous to argue that we can support the official government story when information is still classified more than half a century later. No one in good conscience can argue the US is a “free democracy” when so much critical information about what the US Government does on its own soil to its own citizenry is hidden away for decades “for our protection.” That is, at its very core, bullshit.

While I DO NOT subscribe to a majority of conspiracy theories, I DO think that the current system of document classification, as well as the overt ties mainstream corporate media has with federal agencies, and the actual, undeniable, proven conspiracies conducted by the federal government (MK Ultra, COINTELPRO, Iran-Contra) give enough credibility to those who do not immediately accept the official stories provided by US government officials.

The US government has failed to provide its people with enough reason to trust their word. Though I think plenty of the conspiratorially minded take it too far. But that's not surprising given how much insane shit the US government has actually, demonstrably, undeniably done over the last 100 years.

The Jesse Jackson involvement was the most shocking revelation to me. I had no idea he was involved. It is clear as day that he wanted the fame and notoriety for himself, so he made a deal with the devil to get it. What did South Park say about him again?

Anyway...

The author goes in depth about how corporate media has continually stymied any substantive reporting on his decades-long investigation, cancelling his appearances, refusing to publish his books, refusing to report on the revelations, always either siding with the government's flimsy story or ignoring him outright.

“By 1967 the CIA was spending 1.5 billion dollars a year without any effective fiscal control over individual expenditures on operations. Covert domestic activities and operations were paid for by “unvouchered funds” (expenditures without purchase orders or receipts). As a result of the 1949 Central Intelligence Act, Director Helms had the authority to spend money “without regard to the provisions of law and regulations relating to the expenditure of government funds.” Helms's signature on any check, no matter how large, drawn on any CIA bank account, was deemed to be sufficient. Interagency cooperation, particularly with the army and/or the State Department, was frequently necessary and this was accomplished through the establishment of Special Operations Groups (SOG) created for particular projects or missions. SOG activity inside the United States against “Willie” (blacks and dissidents) was not publicized or known.”

We know these people funded fascists in Europe and South America. We know these people orchestrated political assassinations across the globe. We know these people ran guns and drugs in order to get more unaccountable funding. And I'm expected to believe a word they say about “no involvement?” Gimme a break

“On June 16, 1978, while at the United Nations to talk with members and staff of the UN Special Assembly on Disarmament, [Daniel] Ellsberg [leaker of the pentagon papers] became quite friendly with [Brady] Tyson [then an aide to UN ambassador Andrew Young]. [...]
In the affidavit Ellsberg stated, “I asked Tyson whether he thought there had been a conspiracy and who he thought might have done it. He said very flatly to me, ‘We know there was a conspiracy and we know who did it.' ... I asked him who it was, if he would feel free to say, and he said again in a way that was very surprising to me in its lack of equivocation or reservation, ‘It was a group of off-duty and retired FBI officers working under the personal direction of J. Edgar Hoover.' He said further that this was a group working secretly and known to almost no one else in the FBI. This group Tyson said included ‘a sharpshooter,' who had actually done the shooting.””

Would you look at that, someone DID talk! Why would somebody with rock solid credibility, the guy who leaked the pentagon papers, not let this revelation become international news? The House Select Committee On Assassinations in the 1990's didn't seem to care. WEIRD. After the affidavit was brought to the committee's attention, the author and his cohorts addressed the media: “Abernathy, in his offhand manner, informed them that, yes, we had had a very productive meeting with the staff and leadership of the committee, we hoped that they would go on and complete their work, and we had given them certain information implicating the FBI in the killing of Dr. King. I was amazed that none of the press picked this up: there was virtually no response.” WEIRD.

“At this point, it appears entirely reasonable, in light of this sordid history, of disinformation with collaboration between mainstream media and the government, to conclude that the more we learn about contemporary publishing and news reporting in the United States, the more accurate does it appear was Carl Bernstein's conclusion in Rolling Stone in October 1977 about the extraordinary degree of influence and control over—and actual working presence in all aspects of print, audio, and visual media by the intelligence community and its assigned agents. The willingness of corporate media to collaborate and the consolidation of that collaboration has, for the most part, made it impossible for a free and independent press to operate in this Republic.”

The corporate media doesn't care about the truth. They are not there to speak truth to power. Quite the opposite, they're there to make you THINK they're speaking truth to power so you don't think critically beyond what they show you.

The author became the lawyer of James Earl Ray. He, along with the King family, wanted to have an actual trial for Ray. The corporate media doesn't want this because the US government doesn't want this. So...

“The media continually sought to undermine the strength of the family's commitment to a trial. Distortions abounded. Take the New York Times coverage on February 21 of our motion to test the alleged murder weapon. Drummond Ayres Jr. reported Mrs. King's testimony:

>Mrs. King, speaking after years of silence about Mr. Ray's legal maneuvering, took the stand this morning, and acknowledging the incongruity of her appearance on his behalf and behest, said, “We call for the trial that never happened.”

This was a gross distortion of what she actually said, which was: “We call for the trial that never happened.... If we fail to seize this fading opportunity for justice to be served, the tragedy will be compounded by the failure of the legal system.” Nowhere in her statement did she refer in any way to James being pressed to tell anything.”

Not only is the crime clear, but the cover-up was clear from the beginning. The crime scene was immediately tampered with when the bushes (where the real shooter was located) got cut down the MORNING AFTER the shooting. A taxi driver who saw the real shooter running from the scene was murdered. Witnesses were harassed to prevent them from coming forward.The author was being followed by the FBI while he was trying to meet with witnesses. “I would learn later from a mutual street acquaintance that an FBI contact was trying to locate where I was staying. Now, why would they be doing that?“ HUH. WEIRD.

I could go on, but I've said all I need to say and it would be beating a dead horse. Read this book if you want to know what really happened to MLK. Every single argument he makes is backed up with logic, reason, and mounds of evidence.