LYING IN
STATE: From left, civil rights leaders Abernathy, Bernard Lee and Young
pay respects to their comrade King
April 4, 1968
Killing the Dreamer
By Jack E. White
At 6:01
p.m., the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy stood before the mirror in room 306
of Memphis' Lorraine Motel, slapping on aftershave lotion in preparation
for a soul-food dinner at the home of a local minister. His close friend
Martin Luther King Jr. stood just outside the door on the concrete
second-floor walkway, joshing with aides from the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference who, like King, were in town to support striking
sanitation workers. Suddenly a sharp crack filled the air. Startled by
what he thought was a firecracker, Abernathy looked out to the walkway
and saw that King had fallen. Only his feet were visible, one foot
protruding awkwardly through the walkway's iron railing. Abernathy
rushed out, stepping over his friend to kneel by his side. Blood was
gushing from a fist-size bullet wound in King's right cheek. Tenderly
cradling King's head, Abernathy patted his left cheek and tried to
console him: "This is Ralph, this is Ralph, Martin, don't be afraid."
Moments later, another King aide, Andrew Young, checked King's pulse and
told Abernathy, "Ralph, it's all over." Still rocking King in his arms,
Abernathy sobbed, "Don't say that, don't say that." The grief others
felt for the martyred civil rights leader would set off days of rioting
across America.
TIME Cover
Collection: Click
here to see covers from 1968
Previous: 
