Martin Luther King Jr. allegedly had at least two premonitions leading up to his assassination in 1968. The last one was the night before his murder. He revealed some of what he was feeling during what would be his last sermon.
In March 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was making plans to visit a few places, including Memphis and New Jersey. However, it seemed that he started feeling he might not make it to New Jersey at all. During a meeting with Oliver Lofton, director of Newark Legal Services, King plainly stated, “I might not come back.”
Then, in what would arguably become his most famous sermon at the Mason Temple in Memphis on April 3, 1968, King once again seemed to be bringing the message that he might not be able to fight for civil rights alongside his people for long. This was after his flight to Memphis was delayed due to a bomb threat.
During his somewhat downhearted preaching, he said that difficult days lay ahead for the people and that he could see the promised land but might not get there with them.
He recalled a time in the ’50s when he was stabbed during a book signing. He spoke of his infamous speech, the Birmingham protests, and the past signings of civil rights bills. He spoke of God taking him to the mountaintop and thanked Him for the life he had lived so far.
The very next day, King was standing on a hotel balcony with Reverend Jesse Jackson on the verge of leading a march by sanitation workers. A loud bang sounded and King crumpled to the floor. He had been shot in the neck. An hour later, doctors at a nearby hospital declared his time of death.
Following King’s murder, riots flared up in more than 100 cities across America. James Earl Ray was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. He unsuccessfully appealed for a retrial and passed away in his prison cell in 1998.
