Martin Luther King Jr. Was Assassinated

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He had travelled to the city to support striking Black sanitation workers, and the night before he delivered his prophetic “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.

King was standing on the motel’s second-floor balcony when a single rifle shot struck him. He was just 39 years old. The killing of the movement’s most prominent leader triggered grief and unrest in cities across the United States.

He died a day after warning that he might not get to the mountaintop with his people.

A two-month international manhunt followed. James Earl Ray, a career criminal, was captured in England and later pled guilty to the shooting. King’s legacy endured: his birthday became a federal holiday, and the motel where he fell now anchors the National Civil Rights Museum.