# Martin Luther King Jr Assassination was a conspiracy **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 24, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-was-a-conspiracy/150579 "2003-01-24T00:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-was-a-conspiracy/150579/21 "2003-01-25T02:13:04Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s a scene in “Unforgiven” where Richard Harris, playing the assassin English Bob, is commenting on the news story that President Garfield is dying from a gunman’s bullet. He remarks that this makes Britain better, because some schmoe could never assassinate a Queen; after all, says Bob, if you walked up to a monarch with a gun, their very majesty would awe you so much you’d be unable to do it. Of course, then Bob is very stupid, because there were at least seven attempts on Victoria’s life in the 64 years of her reign. (usually foiled by stupidity, or guards-the first one was stopped by her husband’s walking stick!) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-was-a-conspiracy/150579/22 "2003-01-25T04:15:27Z")
Well, Bob DID get the shit kicked out of him by Gene Hackman. > [@](#): > > The 3 1/2" left/ 4" down sounds like a none issue, without more data. What that probably means is that the rifle, when fired from a mechanical rest (remove human error), with that particular load, at that particular range, will hit a few inches off dead center. So what? Or look at it this way. Look down at the center of your chest, where your heart is. Put your finger right there. Now move your finger 3.5" to the left and 4" down. Now imagine a rifle bullet hitting you there. Think you’d survive that? Fat chance. Such a rifle can still be used to kill someone. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-was-a-conspiracy/150579/23 "2003-01-25T04:44:35Z")
> [@](#): > > news story that President Garfield is dying from a gunman’s bullet Minor nitpick: Although that’s the way it was presented, Garfield actually died from the medical treatment to remove the bullet after a month of increasingly bad infections. In retrospect, he probably would have survived if the doctors had simply done nothing, as the subsequent autopsy revealed the bullet to have missed doing any major damage, and had lodged in some muscles in the back. ---
**Author:** ![SojournerSamson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SojournerSamson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SojournerSamson)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-was-a-conspiracy/150579/24 "2003-01-25T06:14:49Z")
Dick Gregory in “Callus On My Soul” puts forth the theory of CIA and FBI involvement,especially in the cover-up. Of course Gregory also believes in astrology… There are some questionable aspects…What about the Memphis fireman who gave access to a “group of military intelligence agents” to the roof of the firehouse across from the Lorraine Motel the morning of the shooting? ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-was-a-conspiracy/150579/25 "2003-01-25T14:39:34Z")
What about it? It’s bullshit too, manufactured by one of Ray’s lawyers. The Alabama National Guard unit that supposedly was sent there was never placed under federal control, and its rosters confirm that it was never sent to any of the various cities where the theory placed it as part of some nefarious intelligence-gathering plan. One of the alleged “snipers” was dead, according to the theory. Nope, quite alive, and quite capable of denouncing it as bullshit. He was actually on duty as a fireman in Birmingham the day of the assassination. He sued the publisher for $15 million and obtained an out-of-court settlement, getting both cash and a public repudiation of the charges by the publisher. [Story here](http://www.newgomemphis.com/newgo/mlk/death/kingplot.shtml). The “cable” that supposedly ordered them there appears to be a manufactured fraud, and is dated 26-days after the murder in any event. But that’s okay, according to the lawyer–Oliver Stone had somebody check it out, and they determined it was authentic. When the lawyer finally revealed who he claimed to have gotten it from, it turned out the guy had been dead for years. Shall I go on? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-was-a-conspiracy/150579/26 "2003-01-26T02:04:28Z")
**minty** said > [@](#): > > Shall I go on? Please do! This is better than sex for us old guys!😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-was-a-conspiracy/150579.md?page=1)