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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a prominent American
3leader of the African-American civil rights movement and Nobel
4Peace Prize laureate, was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in
5Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In March of 1968, Dr. King went to Memphis in
7support of striking African-American sanitation workers; the
8workers had staged a walkout on February 11, 1968, to protest
9unequal wages and working conditions; at the time, the city of
10Memphis paid black workers significantly lower wages than
11whites; and
 
12    WHEREAS, At 6:01 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, 1968, while he
13was standing on the motel's second floor balcony, Dr. King was
14struck by a single .30 bullet fired from a Remington 760
15Gamemaster; Reverend Ralph Abernathy, who was staying with Dr.
16King at the motel, heard the shot from inside the motel room
17and ran to the balcony to find Dr. King on the floor; Dr. King
18was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where doctors pronounced
19him dead at 7:05 p.m.; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Despite the urging of many national leaders, news
21of the assassination led to a nationwide wave of riots in more
22than 100 cities, including Washington, D.C. and Baltimore,

 

 

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1Maryland; after the assassination, the city of Memphis quickly
2settled the strike, on favorable terms to the sanitation
3workers; and
 
4    WHEREAS, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson later declared a
5national day of mourning for the slain civil rights leader; his
6funeral was held on April 9, 1968 and over 300,000 people
7attended, paying their final respects to the late Dr. King; and
 
8    WHEREAS, On June 10, 1968, James Earl Ray, a fugitive from
9the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested in London,
10extradited to the United States, and charged with the crime; on
11March 10, 1969, Ray entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced
12to 99 years in the Tennessee state penitentiary; therefore, be
13it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
16we remember this important day in history and reflect on the
17life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who
18worked towards changing attitudes without violence, and who
19brought true change upon this nation.