James Earl Ray, who most M$M (Main$tream media) outlets will to this day identify as the lone assassin, was exonerated in a trial by jury in a civil court in 1999.
You can read the transcript of the trial here: http://www.thekingcenter.org/news/trial.html#Transcript
Does everyone remember this being covered in the M$M? No? That's because it wasn't. Now why would that be? This is huge... this is a giant piece of our history, being turned on its head, and it was ignored.
What is their interest in burying this story? What was MLK doing at the time of his assassination?
Look up COINTELPRO. This was a program whose mission was to discredit dissidents. It was obviously largely successful since to this day, on this very forum, you can find the dirt they manufactured or dug up in order to try to prevent anyone who threatened the power structure from becoming too much of a threat. Obviously it didn't work successfully enough, if they took the next step, and had him assassinated.
The testimony in this trial is an education in itself.
Especially noteworthy parts include the testimony of William Schaap, who is an expert on disinformation. You can watch his testimony on Youtube... it is posted in four parts: http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=BA69081DC9C0AE84
I also think the opening and closing statements by the attorney who represented the Kings, Dr. William F. Pepper, are worth watching:
Opening Statement: http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=2FAC077DA71CC8D6
Closing Statement: http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6CDDC2D378CC12CD
The jury reached a *unanimous* verdict after around than an hour.
The words "conspiracy theory" are used to try to color people's perception about whatever it is that's being discussed. There isn't anything wrong with the words as such, but we should be careful not to automatically assume that *all* conspiracy theories are undeserving of serious consideration.
If you're not already familiar, please look into COINTELPRO, and Operation Mockingbird, and Operation Northwoods... if we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it.