Historical Video: Robert F. Kennedy Anounces Martin Luther King’s Death, Indianapolis 1968

http://youtu.be/_E3-_z5YP0M

The preceding, historically significant, footage shows Robert Kennedy in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968 speaking to a crowd on a campaign stop shortly after learning of the death of Martin Luther King. Kennedy’s trenchant, moving comments were given very soon after King’s assassination.

“[Kennedy] first heard that King had been shot while leaving Muncie, Indiana, after speaking at Ball State University’s Men’s Gym,” says author and Indiana Historian Ray E. Boomhower. “He heard the news of the shooting in Memphis at the Delaware County Airport. Reports having him hear the news from local attorney Marshall Hanley or from those gathered to shake his hands at the airport.”

According to Indiana newspaper editor Randy Rendfeld, several sources report that “Kennedy was told by the Indianapolis police chief that his safety couldn’t be assured. He gave his speech anyway.”

According to Wikipedia, “Kennedy did not learn that King was dead until his plane landed in Indianapolis. According to reporter John J. Lindsay, Kennedy “seemed to shrink back as though struck physically” and put his hands to his face, saying “Oh, God. When is this violence going to stop?”

Robert Kennedy was shot and killed by an assassin two months later, on June 5, 1968.

The complete text of Kennedy’s April 4, 1968 remarks in Indianapolis is below.

Anyone seeking more information about Kennedy’s actions on this day should check out “Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary,” by Ray E. Boomhower, published by Indina University Press in 2008.