An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King [Hardcover]

William F. Pepper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2003

The definitive account of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr was the most powerful and eloquent champion of the poor and oppressed in US history, and at the height of his fame in the mid-sixties seemed to offer the real possibility of a new and radical beginning for liberal politics in the USA. In 1968, he was assassinated; the movement for social and economic change has never recovered.

The conviction of James Earl Ray for his murder has never looked even remotely safe, and when William Pepper began to investigate the case it was the start of a twenty-five year campaign for justice. At a civil trial in 1999, supported by the King family, seventy witnesses under oath set out the details of the conspiracy Pepper had unearthed: the jury took just one hour to find that Ray was not responsible for the assassination, that a wide-ranging conspiracy existed, and that government agents were involved.

An Act of State lays out the extraordinary facts of the King story—of the huge groundswell of optimism engendered by his charismatic radicalism, of how plans for his execution were laid at the very heart of government and the military, of the disinformation and media cover-ups that followed every attempt to search out the truth. As shocking as it is tragic, An Act of State remains the most compelling and authoritative account of how King’s challenge to the US establishment led inexorably to his murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Forget everything you think you know, Pepper insists. James Earl Ray did not pull the trigger. The journalist-turned-lawyer's previous title, Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King Jr., was more a prelude to this title than the final word. Twenty years after James Earl Ray was convicted, Pepper set out to clear him; in the process, he brought to light reams of evidence that were ignored in the original trial. The key to his case is Loyd Jowers, a bar owner who claims to have disposed of the murder weapon at the request of a local mob figure. Partially on the strength of the Orders to Kill material, Pepper won the support of King's wife and children, who brought Jowers and "unknown co-conspirators" to trial in a civil wrongful death suit in 1999. Dozens of witnesses contributed to a forceful, detailed case that accused the FBI, the CIA, the U.S. military, the Memphis police, and local and national organized crime leaders. After only an hour of deliberation, the jury found for the King family. The accusers, led by Pepper, cried vindication and fully expected to be at the center of one of the biggest news stories of the century. But the trial and the verdict barely registered in the media. Appalled by the silence that followed, Pepper remained determined to bring the details of his exhaustive probe and subsequent civil case to the public, and the result is this exacting book, dense with evidence and analysis of the murder. Pepper sets the tone by recalling the state of civil unrest in this country during the late 1960s and why King's radical activism was such a threat to government and corporate leaders. Simply put, Pepper claims those in power were scared to death of the mass mobilization King's Poor People's Campaign might have inspired. Pepper gradually introduces the vast cast of characters in a dizzying murder conspiracy that winds from a Memphis bar through the shadows of organized crime to the far reaches of national government. He carefully maps each player's place and role in the tangled web and doggedly tries to stick to a straightforward narrative. The number of unanswered questions complicates those efforts, but does not cloud the evidence that Ray was not the shooter. Pepper attempts nothing less than a rewrite of history, and a spurring of further investigation. While his moralizing epilogue on the deterioration of democracy is distracting, it is heartfelt, and honors Pepper's commitment to King's legacy.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In 1978, Pepper began investigating the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. In this absorbing and detailed book, Pepper maintains that James Earl Ray was not the assassin. Instead, Pepper's investigation points to a conspiracy by the U.S. government and its military and intelligence organizations to silence King's growing criticism of the Vietnam War and his anti-poverty campaign. In part one, Pepper focuses on his early investigative efforts, including interviews with several witnesses to King's murder. Pepper also details his efforts to get a new trial for convicted assassin James Ray, and the cooperation by the King family in that effort. Part two details the 1999 trial, several years after Ray's death, and new testimony and forensic evidence pointing to government involvement in the assassination and cover-up. Pepper roundly criticizes the U.S. media for its lack of coverage of the trial; he also takes to task the 1998 report by the U.S. Attorney General, an investigation undertaken by the Clinton administration in lieu of the independent investigation requested by Pepper and the King family. Pepper also explores the promise for social change represented by King's aborted anti-war and anti-poverty campaigns. Readers--particularly conspiracy buffs--interested in the details surrounding the King assassination will enjoy this passionate, disturbing, and well-researched book. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Verso; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (January 17, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859846955
• ISBN-13: 978-1859846957
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( K ) > King, Martin Luther

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Clouded Light, March 28, 2003

By 

Douglas Doepke (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King (Hardcover)

I'm new to the details of the King assassination, and though I lived through that period the details, as I recall, were never made clear unlike the previous JFK murder. It was pretty clear, however, that the killing was a coordinated effort by shadowy background forces, and not even the government pressed its usual lone assassin case very hard. The result was a lot of loose ends awaiting real investigation. This is Pepper's second book on the topic. I wish I had read the first one before picking up this one, because An Act of State does not serve well as an introduction. Instead of summarizing the official story and introducing the principals, the opening chapters plunge us into subsequent developments, which for newcomers like myself risks confusion from the outset. Moreover the work as a whole is neither well organized nor cogently edited creating additional obstacles for the uninitiated. Nonetheless, there are so many fascinating factual aspects brought to light by Pepper, that the book stands as a must read for those interested in America's hidden history. So for those with a skimpy background such as myself, either prep with a better intoduction or be prepared to sort through as best you can. The results speak volumes.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars News fit to print, but..., May 16, 2003

By 

John C. Landon "nemonemini" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King (Hardcover)

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 King

2. 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.

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If a tree falls in the forest..., February 9, 2003

By 

Samuel A. Holloway (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King (Hardcover)

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!!