This Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a group that includes some prominent celebrities and family members of the deceased is calling for an investigation of his death and others, believing they were carried out by the government and later covered up.
The group — known as The Truth and Reconciliation Committee — believes that King was assassinated, according to TMZ. They also believe that President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Malcolm X were killed, and that these conspiracies were intentionally covered up. The group includes Kathleen Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and King’s nephew, Isaac Newton Farris Jr.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The Truth and Reconciliation Committee also has some big celebrity names in it, such as Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, David Crosby, Oliver Stone, Rob Reiner and Mort Sahl. Daniel Ellsberg, the government whistleblower who revealed the Pentagon Papers, a top secret document pertaining to the Vietnam War.
The committee also includes other family members of the four deceased icons, as well as confidantes and “prominent voices,” according to WhoWhatWhy.org. The site published the committee’s initial release, which asks congress to establish an investigation into these deaths, feeling that the American people are owed answers.
“We call for a major public inquest on the four major assassinations of the 1960s that together had a disastrous impact on the course of American history,” it read. “The inquest — which will hear testimony from living witnesses, legal experts, investigative journalists, historians and family members of the victims — is intended to show the need for Congress or the Justice Department to reopen investigations into all four assassinations.”
The document adds a few of the biggest doubts hanging over some of the murders, including King‘s alleged killer, James Earl Ray, whose conviction “has steadily lost credibility over the years.” It calls the case of Robert F. Kennedy’s murder “a mockery of a trial,” and feels that equal uncertainty hangs over all of these cases.
The doubt surrounding these murders has slowly grown over the years, escaping the worlds of conspiracy theories and finding root in real historical analysis. The TRC would not be without precedent, either, as South Africa has a similar organization running successfully known as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
That jfk one is so dirty and not realistic as they say..watch it.. definitely 2 gunman
— Eric Wayne (@ericwayne_eric) January 20, 2019
The 60 signatories are not the only ones interested in finding out the truth, either. Over the years, many people have studied the assassinations, and interest is still high. On Twitter, people responded to the news enthusiastically, hoping to learn more themselves and positing some of the evidence.
So far, Congress has not responded to the TRC’s pleas.
