Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. He was a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience.

James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested on June 8, 1968, at Heathrow Airport, London, extradited to the United States, and charged with the crime. On March 10, 1969, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. He later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful; he died in prison on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70.

The King family and others believe the assassination was the result of a conspiracy involving the U.S. government, Mafia and Memphis police, as alleged by Loyd Jowers in 1993. Jowers appeared on ABC's Prime Time Live and related the details of an alleged conspiracy involving the Mafia and the U.S. government to kill King. According to Jowers, the perpetrator, James Earl Ray, was a scapegoat, and was not the only person responsible for assassinating King. Jowers said that he hired Memphis police Lieutenant Earl Clark to fire the fatal shot.

In 1999, the King family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jowers for the sum of $10 million. During closing arguments, their attorney asked the jury to award damages of $100, to make the point that "it was not about the money". During the trial, both sides presented evidence alleging a government conspiracy. Based on the evidence, the jury concluded Jowers and others were "part of a conspiracy to kill King" and awarded the family $100.

On June 9, 2000, the United States Department of Justice released a report rejecting allegations that there was a conspiracy to assassinate King.

After the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. said to his wife, “This is what is going to happen to me also. I keep telling you, this is a sick society."

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