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
Martin Luther King Jr. with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary. Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson, Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an avid supporter of Native American rights. Native Americans were also active supporters of Dr. King's Civil Rights Movement which included the active participation of Native Americans. In fact, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) was patterned after the NAACP’s Legal Defense