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Death of Bobby Kennedy and Death of Martin Luther King
Robert F Kennedy’s Death
Robert Francis Kennedy who was popularly known as Bobby was an aspiring presidential candidate under the Democratic Party in the US. Previously, Robert had served as an Attorney General and a senator in the reign of his late brother, President John Kennedy. After the elections of 1968, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, Robert Kennedy ascended to the ballroom of the Ambassador hotel where hundreds of his supporters were eagerly waiting for him to deliver his victory speech. After delivering his speech, Robert ended with a comment that he would immediately head to Chicago to celebrate his victory there. Kennedy sought to exit the ballroom via a side door, as a shortcut to the Colonial room where he would address the press regarding his victory. In all this, he did not know that his death was minutes away from him (Goduti 223).
As Robert went down the crowded corridor, supporters struggled to catch an eye on their future president. Suddenly, a young Palestinian boy who would later be identified as Sirhan Sirhan advanced to Robert and fired at him. Even though Robert’s bodyguards tried to contain Sirhan, he successfully managed to shoot Robert eight times before he was suppressed. Six people (including Robert) were injured in the shooting and minutes after, Robert lay on the floor, bleeding. The rest of the victims were the speech writer Paul Shrade, the journalist Ira Goldstein, the artist Elizabeth Evans, the ABC director Weisel William, and a 17 year old boy.
Robert was quickly rushed to the Central Hospital that was just meters away from the Ambassador hotel. The doctors there noted that Robert had severe injuries that required immediate brain surgery hence he was referred to the Good Samaritan Hospital. During the surgery, doctors noted other two bullets under his right hand’s armpit and from his brain they removed bone and metal fragments. Though all effort had been employed to save Robert from dying, he succumbed to the injuries the morning of the 6th at around 1:44am (Goduti 223).
Robert’s assassination shocked the entire nation as he was among three major public figures to be assassinated in a period of five years. Others were Robert’s brother, John Kennedy (who had been assassinated five years earlier) and Martin Luther King (who had been assassinated just two months earlier). Robert’s assassin was charged with two ‘kinds of’ charges: murder of Robert Kennedy and assault with a deadly weapon of the other five victims, but he denied the charges. However, he was found guilty and sentenced to a death sentence on the 23rd April 1969 (Robert F. Kennedy n.p).
Theories about the Assassination of Robert Kennedy
Similar to the assassination of his brother, there arose various conspiracies concerning the death of Robert. The doctor that carried an autopsy on Robert’s body stipulated that the nature of the fatal bullet that was behind his ear had left scorch mars around the entry area. This meant that the bullet must have come from behind him, and the gun must have been within or less than an inch from Robert. However, all witness reports indicated that Sirhan was in front of Robert when he fired him. Hence, there arose a controversy on whether there was a second shooter who attacked Robert from behind.
On another note, there arose multiple witnesses with a story that they had seen a young lady in a polka-dot skirt running from the hotel in the company of a man; they both proudly exclaimed that they had successfully shot Kennedy. A different argument by the police was that Sirhan might have been hypo-programmed by other assailants, and hence the reason as to why he asserted that he could not remember the events of that fateful night (Goduti 224).
The Death of Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was a prominent figure in the Civil Rights movements in the US that fought against discrimination of the black people. He successfully led numerous demonstrations in which he encouraged non use of violence and peaceful obedience. His fame went worldwide when he organized and led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in which he and his fellow blacks demanded equal rights in the transport sector. Martin had travelled to Tennessee on Wednesday, 3rd of April 1968 to head a demonstration for Memphis sanitation workers. Martin was shot the following day while he stood on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, an incident that led to his death (King Encyclopedia n.p).
Martin was preparing to attend a dinner party at the home of Samuel Kyles, the Memphis Minister in the company of his other friends. Martin had rushed back to his room to collect a jacket while his colleagues waited in the car park of the hotel. As he stood on the balcony chatting with his friends, an assassin shot him fiercely with the bullet penetrating through his right jaw, through his neck and to his shoulder blade. This left Martin terribly bleeding, and his friends organized an ambulance to rush him to the hospital immediately for treatment. Though his friends were doing their best to save his life, Martin was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital at 7:05 p.m. Martin’s death was followed by riots across the United Streets that led to the destruction of property worth millions.
Investigations following Martin’s death revealed that his assassin was James Earl Ray who was a prominent criminal and racist. Reports of the investigations confirmed that finger prints that were registered on the binoculars and the rifle that was used to shoot Martin were registered against Ray’s name. The registration details of this rifle showed that Ray had purchased it six days before Martin was shot. On another note, caretakers of the hotel confirmed that Ray had booked a room in the same hotel four days before Martin was shot, and some witnesses reported that they had seen him escape immediately after the shooting.
A manhunt for James Ray went on for two months, and he was finally arrested at Heathrow Airport where he had robbed a bank. He was charged with Martin’s murder and pleaded guilty thus being sentenced to a 99 year life sentence. Similar to Robert Kennedy, Martin’s assassination was followed by various conspiracy theories (King Encyclopedia n.p).
Conspiracy Theories on Martin’s Death
On the night when Martin was assassinated, Robert Kennedy immediately delivered a speech concerning the killing, saying that the white people were responsible. This was before any investigations, but Robert announced that with full confidence and assurance. This leaves room for one to conclude that Kennedy Robert and perhaps the entire government might have been aware of the assassination prior to its occurrence. In addition, unlike the FBI report that indicated that Martin was shot by one person, Robert Kennedy immediately said that the killing was executed by the white (King Encyclopedia n.p).
Conclusion
The killings of both Martin Luther and Robert Kennedy have some aspects in common. Both were prominent figures in the US with Martin being a prime civil rights activist and Robert a presidential aspirant. The timing of their killings seems to have some similar aspect. For instance, Martin was assassinated on the eve of the huge demonstration that he had planned to hold in Tennessee with black sanitary workers. On the other side, Robert was killed hours before becoming the president of the US. Lastly, the theories behind their deaths were faced with conspiracy.

Works Cited
Goduti, Philip A. Robert F. Kennedy and the Shaping of Civil Rights, 1960-1964. Jefferson,
North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2012.
“King Encyclopedia – Stanford University.” Martin Luther King, JR and the Global Freedom
Struggle. N.p., n.d. Web source. Retrieved on 8 Nov. 2013

.

Robert F. Kennedy. Is Everyone Alright? n.d. Web source.

http://bobby-kennedy.com/rfkassassination.htm. Retrieved on 8th November 2013.