Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. disagrees with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King. He is supported by author Gerald Posner. Posner wrote "Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr." (1998), concluding that Ray killed King, acting alone, likely for the hope of collecting a racist bounty for the murder. On the other hand, conspiracy theorists bristled at "Killing the Dream", criticizing Posner for in part basing it on "a psychological evaluation of James Earl Ray, which he [Posner] is not qualified to give, and he dismisses evidence of conspiracy in King's murder as cynical attempts
Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. The first memorial service following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, took place the following day at the R.S. Lewis Funeral Home in Memphis, Tennessee. This was followed by two funeral services on April 9, 1968, in Atlanta, Georgia, the first held for family and close friends at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King and his father had both served as senior pastors, followed by a three-mile procession to Morehouse College, King's alma mater, for a public service. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a national day of mourning for the