America's Secret Jihad: The Hidden History of Religious Terrorism in the United States (55 page)

Source: FBI Field Office.

Samuel Holloway Bowers, Jr. The Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi. Bowers was heavily influenced by the racist message of Wesley Swift. Under his leadership, the White Knights were the most violent Klan group in America in the 1960s according to the FBI. Source: The Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Sidney Crockett Barnes. An extremist who left Florida for Alabama in the 1960s, Barnes was one of Wesley Swift's most devoted followers. He helped spread the Christian Identity message and the vision of an end-times race war to a number of individuals in the southeast, including to a young Tommy Tarrants, who become a terrorist for Sam Bowers. Files show that Barnes plotted to kill Martin Luther King in 1963 and 1964. Source: Jackson Field Office.

J.B. Stoner, a leader and co-founder for the racist National States Rights Party. Stoner would run on the NSRP ticket as their Vice Presidential candidate in 1964. Alongside Connie Lynch, a minister for Wesley Swift, Stoner inflamed audiences across the country with his message of white supremacy. He was one of James Earl Ray's attorneys.

Thomas Albert Tarrants III, aka Tommy Tarrants, in a mug shot taken after his arrest, in 1967, for possession of an illegal firearm. Tarrants was arrested with Sam Bowers after their vehicle was pulled over for reckless driving in Mississippi. Responsible for several acts of violence in Mississippi, Tarrants was not connected to these crimes until May of 1968. Yet he was inexplicably investigated in connection with the King murder within days of the act. Tarrants rejected the Swift message in favor of traditional Christianity in the 1970s and is now an evangelical minister. Source: Jackson Field Office.

Donald Sparks's 1967 FBI Most Wanted Photo. Sparks was a home burglar and a contract killer in a criminal network that would later be popularized as “The Dixie Mafia.” FBI records indicate that Sparks was approached with a bounty contract on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life in 1964 by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi. A member of Sparks's criminal gang would later be connected with a bounty offer, from the same Klan, in 1967. Source: FBI.

Bessie Brewer's rooming house the day after King's murder. It shows extensive brush still present, contradicting the claims by some that the area was cleared immediately after King's murder. Some argue that an assassin may have fired from within the brush rather than from the building itself; others assert that the brush was too thick and thus not an ideal shooting location. Source: Shelby County Registry of Deeds.

The picture shows the rear side of Bessie Brewer's rooming house and, specially, Canipe's Amusement Company. The accused assassin, James Earl Ray, allegedly dropped a bundle of incriminating items, including the murder weapon, in the alcove outside Canipe's. Some argue he was afraid he would confront police officers with the material in hand. Source: Shelby County Registry of Deeds.

The rear of Bessie Brewer's rooming House, the side facing the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was staying. Accused assassin James Earl Ray allegedly fired the shot that killed King from the second floor. Source: Shelby County Registry of Deeds.

The bathroom on the second floor of Bessie Brewer's rooming house. This is where law enforcement and prosecutors believe accused assassin James Earl Ray fired the shot that killed King. Source: Shelby County Registry of Deeds.

The view of the Lorraine Motel from the opening in the second floor bathroom window at the rear of Bessie Brewer's rooming house. A shooter would have had a clear view of King from this vantage point. The markings, indicate the location of King's body (C) and his room (B). Source: Shelby County Registry of Deeds.