Friday, November 5, 2010

Book Excerpt Of The Week: Part 2- “Conspiracies Cover-ups and Crimes” By: Jonathan Vankin


“There seem to be government connections to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Accused killer Ray was not arrested until nearly a month after the fact, in England, of all places. Where a nickel-and-dime crook like Ray got the funds for his extensive trans- and intercontinental travels piques the interest of all conspiracy researchers.

The government’s unusual behavior in prosecuting (and some would say, defending) Ray was also cause for concern. Only one witness, a chronic drunkard and self-avowed racist named Charles Q. Stephens, gave a positive make on Ray as the gunman. But he didn’t ‘recall’ that Ray was the he’d seen until six weeks later. On the night of the assassination, when interviewed by a newspaper reporter, Stephens described the man he’d seen fleeing from the alleged sniper’s nest as ‘a ni**er.’

Stephens’ live-in girlfriend, Grace Walden, has said that he was nearly unconscious from booze that night and couldn’t have observed much of anything. Walden had her own story. She had seen a white man- not fitting Ray’s description- running from the scene.

Walden was committed to a mental institution the same day her boyfriend was taken into FBI protective custody. A court later found that she was committed illegally. Grace Walden was the witness Mark Lane and Jim Jones discussed smuggling to Jonestown, according to the memo found in Jonestown files.

Is there a systematic conspiracy to eliminate black leaders, to disable and discredit black activist groups? There are conspiratorial cadres, the Ku Klux Klan and others, who wouldn’t be adverse to aim. The FBI formed its own conspiracy, COINTELPRO (short for counterintelligence program), which planted provocateurs in black activist groups, crippling them.” -From, “Conspiracies Cover-ups and Crimes” By: Jonathan Vankin

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