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Fact check

Is it true: MLK Assassination Conspiracy?

Under Investigation55% confidence

It's still under investigation.

James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in 1969 and died in 1998 before any trial on the merits. A 1999 Memphis civil jury found a broader conspiracy probable (King v. Jowers); a 2000 DOJ review found that verdict unsupported. FBI COINTELPRO surveillance of King is documented fact. The HSCA (1979) found a likelihood of private-actor conspiracy but no credible evidence of government participation in the killing.

The claim

James Earl Ray was convicted in 1969 of murdering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Ray later recanted his guilty plea. In 1999 a Memphis civil jury in King v. Jowers found, by a

Key evidence

FBI COINTELPRO surveillance of King is documented

Criminal conviction of Ray stands

Read the full evidence file

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