An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King

by William F. Pepper

Book Overview

This definitive account of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination collects "an impressive array of testimony and evidence" to offer a new perspective on the conspiracy that changed the course of American history (Kirkus).

"We recommend this important book to everyone who seeks the truth about Dr. King's assassination." --Coretta Scott King

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was in Memphis to support a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844672859
• ISBN13: 9781844672851
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Verso
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Knowledge is a Burden

Coretta Scott King recommends this book "to everyone who seeks the truth about Dr. King's assassination." I do as well, and furthermore, I recommend it to the majority of Americans who would rather NOT know the circumstances and reality concerning MLKJr's death. These are sad times when the government can bestow a memorial day upon a fallen hero, but continue to deny the reality of their own complicity and possible participation.

News fit to print, but...

This is the account of King lawyer William Pepper's pursuit of the facts in the King assassination, and his denouement of the evidence, centering on the successful civil suit of Lloyd Jowers, a local resident with a business across the street from the motel murder site and with a connection to the murder, which led to the unraveling. The credentials of the ringleaders and perpetrates are very impressive indeed and include J. Edgar ('the' J. Edgar),the CIA, FBI, Memphis Police Department and assorted sordid Mob hoodlums. That's quite a team. But then the motive appears to have centered on the decision by Martin Luther King to bring the focus of his movement on poverty and the Vietnam War. It took the jury one hour to decide that:1. Yes--Lloyd Jowers participated in a conspiracy to do harm to Martin Luther King2. Yes--Others including governmental agencies were parties to this conspiracy as alleged by the defendant.This should have been headline news, but the story never survived, and it wasn't news to me until I stumbled on the book in the library, and I read a lot of books. I hope you find out too.

Chilling Indictment

An Act Of State--The Execution Of Martin Luther King--is a chilling indictment of the deadly madness that was rampant through American Society in the 1960s. The book systematically overturns the Government's ... case against James Earl Ray as Martin Luther King's assassin. Instead, it paints a series of powerful vignettes that appear to implicate various agencies of the Federal Government, elements of of the Memphis Police Department, other of the City's Municipal units, and pieces of the Carlos Marcello Mob in New Orleans, in planning and covering up Dr. King's tragic murder. This crime robbed the nation of its greatest leader for social justice in the twentieth century--a loss we as a nation may never recoup. Dr. Pepper relentlessly assembles a body of evidence: circumstantial, eye witness, and admissible hearsay that would prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt before an impartial court of public opinion. And perhaps this is the most haunting aspect of the tragic murder of an American icon:How free are we as a people and a culture when the truth cannot be told? How free are we when evidence and news is managed and withheld? How far our separation from the Body Of Laws we celebrate in our flag, anthems, hymns, and pledges?Dare I whisper: far. Bob Lupo, author, A Buffalo's Revenge, and Extremities-4.

If a tree falls in the forest...

I found this book to be incredibly enlightening. Unless you still believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and Oswald's Magic Bullet, you will most likely be impressed by the evidence that William Pepper has uncovered and laid out in exhaustive detail in this book. If nothing else, "An Act of State" sheds more light on the Martin Luther King who had so much to offer after the "I Have a Dream" speech, and why he was considered so dangerous by so many people. William Pepper's own words about democracy and the destiny of the U.S.A. are also quite thought-provoking, as well as being appropriate to the material he presents.Read this book!!

Essential reading

In December of 1999, the Circuit Court in Memphis, Tennessee determined that the U.S. government, at the federal, state and local levels participated in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Why? What was King's vision and strategy in 1967 and 1968? Why are these years of King always obscured by the media? Who's interests did they threaten?Read this book and find out."There are millions of poor people in this country who have very little, or even nothing, to lose. If they can be helped to take action together, they will do so with a freedom and a power that will be a new and unsettling force in our complacent national life." -Martin Luther King