At least we got a war going to keep the economy on life support.

On April 4, 1968
Martin Luther King Is Slain in Memphis; A White Is Suspected; Johnson Urges Calm
---------
Guard Called Out
----------------
Curfew Is Ordered in Memphis, but Fires and Looting Erupt
By Earl Caldwell
Special to The New York Times

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RELATED HEADLINES
Scattered Violence Occurs In Harlem and Brooklyn: 12 Are Arrested Here: Widespread Disorders

President's Plea: On TV, He Deplores 'Brutal' Murder of Negro Leader

Dismay in Nation: Negroes Urge Others to Carry on Spirit of Nonviolence
----------------

Memphis, Friday, April 5 -- The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who preached nonviolence and racial brotherhood, was fatally shot here last night by a distant gunman who raced away and escaped.

Four thousand National Guard troops were ordered into Memphis by Gov. Buford Ellington after the 39-year-old Nobel Prize-winning civil rights leader died.

A curfew was imposed on the shocked city of 550,000 inhabitants, 40 per cent of whom are Negro.

But the police said the tragedy had been followed by incidents that included sporadic shooting, fires, bricks and bottles thrown at policemen, and looting that started in Negro districts and then spread over the city.

White Car Sought

Police Director Frank Holloman said the assassin might have been a white man who was "50 to 100 yards away in a flophouse."

Chief of Detectives W.P. Huston said a late model white Mustang was believed to have been the killer's getaway car. Its occupant was described as a bareheaded white man in his 30's, wearing a black suit and black tie.

The detective chief said the police had chased two cars near the motel where Dr. King was shot and had halted one that had two out-of-town men as occupants. The men were questioned but seemed to have nothing to do with the killing, he said.

Rifle Found Nearby

A high-powered 30.06-caliber rifle was found about a block from the scene of the shooting, on South Main Street. "We think it's the gun," Chief Huston said, reporting it would be turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Dr. King was shot while he leaned over a second-floor railing outside his room at the Lorraine Motel. He was chatting with two friends just before starting for dinner.

One of the friends was a musician, and Dr. King had just asked him to play a Negro spiritual, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," at a rally that was to have been held two hours later in support of striking Memphis sanitation men.

Paul Hess, assistant administrator at St. Joseph's Hospital, where Dr. King died despite emergency surgery, said the minister had "received a gunshot wound on the right side of the neck, at the root of the neck, a gaping wound."

"He was pronounced dead at 7:05 P.M. Central standard time (8:05 P.M. New York time) by staff doctors," Mr. Hess said. "They did everything humanly possible."

Dr. King's mourning associates sought to calm the people they met by recalling his messages of peace, but there was widespread concern by law enforcement officers here and elsewhere over potential reactions.

In a television broadcast after the curfew was ordered here, Mr. Holloman said, "rioting has broken out in parts of the city" and "looting is rampant."

Dr. King had come back to Memphis Wednesday morning to organize support once again for 1,300 sanitation workers who have been striking since Lincoln's Birthday. Just a week ago yesterday he led a march in the strikers' cause that ended in violence. A 16-year-old Negro was killed, 62 persons were injured and 200 were arrested.

Yesterday Dr. King had been in his second-floor room- Number 306- throughout the day. Just about 6 P.M. he emerged, wearing a silkish-looking black suit and white shirt.

Solomon Jones Jr., his driver, had been waiting to take him by car to the home of the Rev. Samuel Kyles of Memphis for dinner. Mr. Jones said later he had observed, "It's cold outside, put your topcoat on," and Dr. King had replied, "O.K., I will."

Two Men in Courtyard

Dr. King, an open-faced, genial man, leaned over a green iron railing to chat with an associate, Jesse Jackson, standing just below him in a courtyard parking lot:

"Do you know Ben?" Mr. Jackson asked, introducing Ben Branch of Chicago, a musician who was to play at the night's rally.

"Yes, that's my man!" Dr. King glowed.

The two men recalled Dr. King's asking for the playing of the spiritual. "I really want you to play that tonight," Dr. King said, enthusiastically.

The Rev. Ralph W. Abernathy, perhaps Dr. King's closest friend, was just about to come out of the motel room when the sudden loud noise burst out.

Dr. King toppled to the concrete second-floor walkway. Blood gushed from the right jaw and neck area. His necktie had been ripped off by the blast.

"He had just bent over," Mr. Jackson recalled later. "If he had been standing up, he wouldn't have been hit in the face.

Policemen 'All Over'

"When I turned around," Mr. Jackson went on, bitterly, "I saw police coming from everywhere. They said, 'where did it come from?' And I said, 'behind you.' The police were coming from where the shot came."

Mr. Branch asserted that the shot had come from "the hill on the other side of the street."

"When I looked up, the police and the sheriff's deputies were running all around," Mr. Branch declared.

"We didn't need to call the police," Mr. Jackson said. "They were here all over the place."

Mr. Kyles said Dr. King had stood in the open "about three minutes."

Mr. Jones, the driver, said that a squad car with four policemen in it drove down the street only moments before the gunshot. The police had been circulating throughout the motel area on precautionary patrols.

After the shot, Mr. Jones said, he saw a man "with something white on his face" creep away from a thicket across the street.

Someone rushed up with a towel to stem the flow of Dr. King's blood. Mr. Kyles said he put a blanket over Dr. King, but "I knew he was gone." He ran down the stairs and tried to telephone from the motel office for an ambulance.

Mr. Abernathy hurried up with a second larger towel.

Police With Helmets

Policemen were pouring into the motel area, carrying rifles and shotguns and wearing helmets.

But the King aides said it seemed to be 10 or 15 minutes before a Fire Department ambulance arrived.

Dr. King was apparently still living when he reached the St. Joseph's Hospital operating room for emergency surgery. He was borne in on a stretcher, the bloody towel over his head.

It was the same emergency room to which James H. Meredith, first Negro enrolled at the University of Mississippi, was taken after he was ambushed and shot in June, 1965, at Hernando, Miss., a few miles south of Memphis; Mr. Meredith was not seriously hurt.

Outside the emergency room some of Dr. King's aides waited in forlorn hope. One was Chauncey Eskridge, his legal adviser. He broke into sobs when Dr. King's death was announced.

"A man full of life, full of love, and he was shot," Mr. Eskridge said. "He had always lived with that expectation- but nobody ever expected it to happen."

But the Rev. Andrew Young, executive director of Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference, recalled there had been some talk Wednesday night about possible harm to Dr. King in Memphis.

Mr. Young recalled: "He said he had reached the pinnacle of fulfillment with his nonviolent movement, and these reports did not bother him."

Mr. Young believed that the fatal shot might have been fired from a passing car. "It sounded like a firecracker," he said.

In a nearby building, a newsman who had been watching a television program thought, however, that "it was a tremendous blast that sounded like a bomb."

There were perhaps 15 persons in the motel courtyard area when Dr. King was shot, all believed to be Negroes and Dr. King's associates.

Past the courtyard is a small empty swimming pool. Then comes Mulberry Street, a short street only three blocks away from storied Beale Street on the fringe of downtown Memphis.

Fire Station Nearby

On the other side of the street is a six-foot brick restraining wall, with bushes and grass atop it and a hillside going on to a patch of trees. Behind the trees is a rusty wire fence enclosing backyards of two-story brick and frame houses.

At the corner at a Butler Street is a newish-looking white brick fire station.

Police were reported to have chased a late-model blue or white car through Memphis and north to Millington. A civilian in another car that had a citizens band radio was also reported to have pursued the fleeing car and to have opened fire on it.

The police first cordoned off an area of about five blocks around the Lorraine Motel, chosen by Dr. King for his stay here because it is Negro-owned. The two-story motel is an addition to a small two-story hotel in a largely Negro area.

Mayor Henry Loeb had ordered a curfew here after last week's disorder, and National Guard units had been on duty for five days until they were deactivated Wednesday.

Last night the Mayor reinstated the curfew at 6:35 and declared:

"After the tragedy which has happened in Memphis tonight, for the protection of all our citizens, we are putting the curfew back in effect. All movement is restricted except for health or emergency reasons."

Governor Ellington, calling out the National Guard and pledging all necessary action by the state to prevent disorder, announced:

"For the second time in recent days, I most earnestly ask the people of Memphis and Shelby County to remain calm. I do so again tonight in the face of this most regrettable incident.

"Every possible action is being taken to apprehend the person or persons responsible for committing this act.

"We are also taking precautionary steps to prevent any acts of disorder. I can fully appreciate the feelings and emotions which this crime has aroused, but for the benefit of everyone, all of our citizens must exercise restraint, caution and good judgment."

National Guard planes flew over the state to bring in contingents of riot-trained highway patrolmen. Units of the Arkansas State Patrol were deputized and brought into Memphis.

Assistant Chief Bartholomew early this morning said that unidentified persons had shot from rooftops and windows at policemen eight or 10 times. He said bullets had shattered one police car's windshield, wounding two policemen with flying glass. They were treated at the same hospital where Dr. King died.

Sixty arrests were made for looting, burglary and disorderly conduct, chief Bartholomew said.

Numerous minor injuries were reported in four hours of clashes between civilians and law enforcement officers. But any serious disorders were under control by 11:15 P.M., Chief Bartholomew said. Early this morning streets were virtually empty except for patrol cars riding without headlights on.

Once Stabbed in Harlem

In his career Dr. King had suffered beatings and blows. Once- on Sept. 20, 1958- he was stabbed in a Harlem department store in New York by a Negro woman later adjudged insane.

That time he underwent a four-hour operation to remove a steel letter opener that had been plunged into his upper left chest. For a time he was critical list, but he told his wife, while in the hospital, "I don't hold any bitterness toward this woman."

In Memphis, Dr. King's chief associates met in his room after he died. They included Mr. Young, Mr. Abernathy, Mr. Jackson, the Rev. James Bevel and Hosea Williams.

They had to step across a drying pool of Dr. King's blood to enter. Someone had thrown a crumpled pack of cigarettes into the blood.

After 15 minutes they emerged. Mr. Jackson looked at the blood. He embraced Mr. Abernathy.

"Stand tall!" somebody exhorted.

"Murder! Murder!" Mr. Bevel groaned. "Doc said that's not the way."

"Doc" was what they often called Dr. King.

Then the murdered leader's aides said they would go on to the hall where tonight's rally was to have been held. They wanted to urge calm upon the mourners.

Some policemen sought to dissuade them.

But eventually the group did start out, with a police escort.

At the Federal Bureau of Investigation office here, Robert Jensen, special agent in charge, said the F.B.I. had entered the murder investigation at the request of Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

Last night Dr. King's body was taken to the Shelby County morgue, according to the police. They said it would be up to Dr. Derry Francisco, county medical examiner, to order further disposition.

CoIntelPro - against Divisive Democrats @ 4:

On April 4, 1968
Martin Luther King Is Slain in Memphis; A White Is Suspected; Johnson Urges Calm
---------
Guard Called Out
----------------

Yeah I remember.

Where is everyone. The Rapture happen this morning?

While big business raids the treasury, Social security recepients are ripped off. Fed bails out the banks while if Social Security benefits were adjusted for inflation our benefits would be almost double.

Ron @ 10:

While big business raids the treasury, Social security recepients are ripped off. Fed bails out the banks while if Social Security benefits were adjusted for inflation our benefits would be almost double.

Corporate Welfare is the only kind these creeps will abide.
They use our $30 billion to bail out Bear-Sterns but the little guys hurt by the actions of Corps like Bear Sterns will get no help.

Enter hyper-inflationary Mad Max economy.

Does McCain have cancer? Will his vice president end up running the United States? Are we really voting for McCain's vice during this next election? McCain has a lot of questions to answer? Will McCain commit fraud and submit false health records?
Will voters see the danger in not knowing the true state of Mccaims health?

L.A. Confidential @ 14:

Enter hyper-inflationary Mad Max economy.

Sorry I got off on the wrong foot with ferrofluid earlier this evening. I misjudged. hope I get a chance to let him know, he actually seemed a likable sort later on, but I was getting ready for dinner and had low blood sugar (cranky old bastard syndrome)

Palast has a pretty good take on the Bailout / Spitzer connection
but I guess hoping to see some kind of Corp. News coverage ...
.
.
.
[....crickets ... ]
.
.
.
Oh ... yeah...forgot for a sec. Almost thought there were still working journalists ... what was I thinking?!

L.A. Confidential @ 8:

Where is everyone. The Rapture happen this morning?

annoying people (and the watchers) in early morning pre coffee threads

I still do not see how the right wingers cannot pick up on the fact that Al Qaeda has the same goals as the Bush Administation and John McCain. Bush removed one Al Qaeda rival in Saddam Hussein and Bush or McCain will more than likely attack Iran. Al Qaeda will love it.

Reminds me of a movie about the human race being put in to a passive state of virtual reality by computers and machines which then harvest them for their money.

♣Bangkok Bob♠ @ 13:

pissed off patricia @ 11:

Russ Feingold hasn't endorsed Obama but he did say he voted for him. Sorry, I can't remember where on the web I read that. I sure do hope it's true.

There's a man here at my house now giving me an estimate on a privacy fence extention and I have just convinced him to vote for Obama. He said everything I said made total sense to him and he is so ready for a change. Here's the kicker...he voted for bush twice.

I know he probably didn't consciously choose that job of security fencing, but it is intersting as a coincidence that a bush voter would be selling security fencing during the fear administration.

I'm actually more interested in who Edwards supports.

CoIntelPro - against Divisive Democrats @ 29:

L.A. Confidential @ 26:

Reminds me of a movie about the human race being put in to a passive state of virtual reality by computers and machines which then harvest them for their money.

it's the republican party, the recurring american nightmare.

the machines are DIEBOLD.

L.A. Confidential @ 6:

CoIntelPro - against Divisive Democrats @ 4:

On April 4, 1968
Martin Luther King Is Slain in Memphis; A White Is Suspected; Johnson Urges Calm
---------
Guard Called Out
----------------

Yeah I remember.

Sad day for this country and its promise.

Shoaib Qadri @ 33:

Samson- @ 25:

*sighs*

right now we are seeing the true cannibalistic nature of the unrestrained, unregulated market system, like a snake eating itself.

cutthroat capitalism, a market economy w/o rules or regulation, is its own worse enemy. sure, a miniscule amount of people make gobs of short-term cash, but, on the whole an unregulated market is its own worse enemy, and will destroy the economy.

and, when the market finally collapses upon itself, those who railed against govt intervention, and welfare, are the first to stick out their diamond-bejeweled hands and say 'gimme, gimme, gimme.' you see, like spoiled children, the "free" market advocates, needed to be protected from themselves, as they will not only hurt themselves but everyone else, too.

We have a Federal Reserve Bank that creates money when it feels like it, bails out businesses that have failed, and intervenes into the market and decides what the interest rate is on its own. That is very powerful regulation and the prime cause of the problems today- stop blaming the free-market when we don't have one. The one's that are asking for government handouts are NOT true free-market advocates and never were.

There's a large difference between a free-market and government + corporations in collusion. They are not the same thing. The military industrial complex for example exists only because of the government. Government intervention has constantly stopped competition, and rewarded businesses that are failures- which only harms the consumer.

To act as if the only problem with our economy is "regulation" and that its the magic ingredient in solving all our problems is just too simplified. It goes way beyond that.

Simple definition: Fascism

Ron @ 34:

Shoaib Qadri @ 33:

Samson- @ 25:

*sighs*

right now we are seeing the true cannibalistic nature of the unrestrained, unregulated market system, like a snake eating itself.

cutthroat capitalism, a market economy w/o rules or regulation, is its own worse enemy. sure, a miniscule amount of people make gobs of short-term cash, but, on the whole an unregulated market is its own worse enemy, and will destroy the economy.

and, when the market finally collapses upon itself, those who railed against govt intervention, and welfare, are the first to stick out their diamond-bejeweled hands and say 'gimme, gimme, gimme.' you see, like spoiled children, the "free" market advocates, needed to be protected from themselves, as they will not only hurt themselves but everyone else, too.

We have a Federal Reserve Bank that creates money when it feels like it, bails out businesses that have failed, and intervenes into the market and decides what the interest rate is on its own. That is very powerful regulation and the prime cause of the problems today- stop blaming the free-market when we don't have one. The one's that are asking for government handouts are NOT true free-market advocates and never were.

There's a large difference between a free-market and government + corporations in collusion. They are not the same thing. The military industrial complex for example exists only because of the government. Government intervention has constantly stopped competition, and rewarded businesses that are failures- which only harms the consumer.

To act as if the only problem with our economy is "regulation" and that its the magic ingredient in solving all our problems is just too simplified. It goes way beyond that.

Simple definition: Fascism

That's basically it. Everyone knows how incompetent our government has been for decades(democrat and republican) and they actually want them to set up new stupid rules that won't fix a damn thing? I always point to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act- since I have to deal with it being an Accountant- it was quickly enacted by congress because they felt the need to do "something" after the Enron scandal, but all it does is force people to waste time and won't prevent further criminal activity.

Our government is responsible for lowering the value of our dollar and hurting every single consumer in this country- not the "free-market". The lowering value of the dollar which is directly caused by the government is what is going to destroy this economy.

earl @ 31:

L.A. Confidential @ 8:

Where is everyone. The Rapture happen this morning?

Still scrolling past #4

maybe it was worth the read.

Someone up thread mentioned the importance of McCain's choice for VP. It seems pretty obvious to me it's either Lieberman or Lindsay Graham. They seem to be assigned the job of being his handlers. Can you imagine having to say "President Lieberman"? My god, how much more are we going to have to endure?

More talk of the "R" word in the Bush economy. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080404/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy

Wacking Day: www.ecoarts.blogspot.com/2008/04/wacking-day.html

Samson- @ 37:

Shoaib Qadri @ 33:

Samson- @ 25:

*sighs*

right now we are seeing the true cannibalistic nature of the unrestrained, unregulated market system, like a snake eating itself.

cutthroat capitalism, a market economy w/o rules or regulation, is its own worse enemy. sure, a miniscule amount of people make gobs of short-term cash, but, on the whole an unregulated market is its own worse enemy, and will destroy the economy.

and, when the market finally collapses upon itself, those who railed against govt intervention, and welfare, are the first to stick out their diamond-bejeweled hands and say 'gimme, gimme, gimme.' you see, like spoiled children, the "free" market advocates, needed to be protected from themselves, as they will not only hurt themselves but everyone else, too.

We have a Federal Reserve Bank that creates money when it feels like it, bails out businesses that have failed, and intervenes into the market and decides what the interest rate is on its own. That is very powerful regulation and the prime cause of the problems today- stop blaming the free-market when we don't have one. The one's that are asking for government handouts are NOT true free-market advocates and never were.

There's a large difference between a free-market and government + corporations in collusion. They are not the same thing. The military industrial complex for example exists only because of the government. Government intervention has constantly stopped competition, and rewarded businesses that are failures- which only harms the consumer.

To act as if the only problem with our economy is "regulation" and that its the magic ingredient in solving all our problems is just too simplified. It goes way beyond that.

my post was not meant to be the encyclopedia of 'what's wrong with the economy'. obviously there is a lot more to it than the lack of regulation. but, that said, letting corporations run wild, without rules/regs, is a large part problem. as has been seen in the energy, banking, lending, manufacturing, etc. sectors.

you would have a hard time arguing the efficacy of the "free" market system though, as i don't think it could exist.

further, govt intervention does curtail competition, but, then again, markets trend towards monopolies anyway, with market share being the golden egg.

i stand by what i said, unrestrained capitalism is its own (and our own) worst enemy.

But how can you stand by what you said when the situation is NOT "unrestrained capitalism"- the Federal Reserve artificially lowering interest rates and throwing BILLIONS to these investment banks is not a product of capitalism and would never EVER happpen under a real free-market. When Banks can invest in whatever stupid venture they want and rely on the Fed to bail them out, how is this a fault of the free-market? Capitalism is not the enemy- its government and big business working together. Just look at the new market "reforms" headed by Paulson- this act of "regulation" is going to help Wall Street more than ever.

And there is a large difference between a company that has a large share of the market because it produces something consumers WANT, and a company that is a monopoly because government makes sure it is the only company that profits regardless of its inefficient product/services.(this video provides good discussion on the subject http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C4gRRk2i-M)

chris @ 43:

these NOLA people need to step up for themselves!

These NOLA people have "stepped up for themselves." What has that to do the federal government initially ignoring the catastrophe that everyone knew about days in advance, ignoring the problem after it happened for days, with a laundry list of broken promises made by the LIAR-in-Chief, and the HUD secretary actively working against them? Sometimes I wonder what the hell is the matter with people. The Bush government has not only let NOLA down, it has done everything in its power to make sure those who lost their homes, or who lost their rental property, cannot come back. Try doing a little reading on the subject before making such a callous, ill-informed statement.

Shoaib Qadri @ 46:

Samson- @ 37:

Shoaib Qadri @ 33:

Samson- @ 25:

We have a Federal Reserve Bank that creates money when it feels like it, bails out businesses that have failed, and intervenes into the market and decides what the interest rate is on its own. That is very powerful regulation and the prime cause of the problems today- stop blaming the free-market when we don't have one. The one's that are asking for government handouts are NOT true free-market advocates and never were.

There's a large difference between a free-market and government + corporations in collusion. They are not the same thing. The military industrial complex for example exists only because of the government. Government intervention has constantly stopped competition, and rewarded businesses that are failures- which only harms the consumer.

To act as if the only problem with our economy is "regulation" and that its the magic ingredient in solving all our problems is just too simplified. It goes way beyond that.

my post was not meant to be the encyclopedia of 'what's wrong with the economy'. obviously there is a lot more to it than the lack of regulation. but, that said, letting corporations run wild, without rules/regs, is a large part problem. as has been seen in the energy, banking, lending, manufacturing, etc. sectors.

you would have a hard time arguing the efficacy of the "free" market system though, as i don't think it could exist.

further, govt intervention does curtail competition, but, then again, markets trend towards monopolies anyway, with market share being the golden egg.

i stand by what i said, unrestrained capitalism is its own (and our own) worst enemy.

But how can you stand by what you said when the situation is NOT "unrestrained capitalism"- the Federal Reserve artificially lowering interest rates and throwing BILLIONS to these investment banks is not a product of capitalism and would never EVER happpen under a real free-market. When Banks can invest in whatever stupid venture they want and rely on the Fed to bail them out, how is this a fault of the free-market? Capitalism is not the enemy- its government and big business working together. Just look at the new market "reforms" headed by Paulson- this act of "regulation" is going to help Wall Street more than ever.

And there is a large difference between a company that has a large share of the market because it produces something consumers WANT, and a company that is a monopoly because government makes sure it is the only company that profits regardless of its inefficient product/services.(this video provides good discussion on the subject http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C4gRRk2i-M)

well, first off, you can say "free" market all you want, but you will never convince me that such a beast exists. i am more of a 'world system theory' (a la wallerstein) type of guy. competition is merely an obstacle for business to overcome in the quest to destroy and shut-out all other competitors--either legally or illegally. and there is nothing "free" about the market system. more like the 'inherently unequal' market. i imagine you'd disagree with that.

that said-

i do agree with you that the govt-corporate collusion is deadly dangerous and is the prime culprit of the economic, political, environmental, international and social failures that are so rampant today.

but this is where our paths veer.

you seem to argue the libertarian line, in that we need to do away with any and all regulations on industry, that govt should never be allowed to interfere with business and vice versa.

this, to me, would lead to the further ascension of the corporate stranglehold on the earth.

i believe that business needs sensible regulation (kind of in the vein of what adam smith argued for); not with industry insiders, and no revolving door btwn govt and business. also, no playing favorites, no corporate welfare, no tax loopholes, no no-bid contracts, no govt-created monopolies, etc.

BUT, firm rules and regulations must be established and enforced fairly and consistently.

unlike what we have now, which is either deregulation or, as you alluded to, skewed regulations.

adam smith wrote about the invisible hand of the market, but he also wrote about the important and necessary visible hand of the state.

and i submit that 'unrestrained capitalism' was inaccurate label to put on this mess, more like 'unrestrained corporatism'. i cringe at the thought of true unrestrained capitalism...