William F. Pepper

American lawyer (1937–2024)

This article is about the lawyer. For other uses, see Dr Pepper (disambiguation).

William F. Pepper

Born|

William Francis Pepper

(1937-08-16)August 16, 1937

New York City, U.S.

Died| April 7, 2024(2024-04-07) (aged 86)

New York City, U.S.

Education| Columbia University (BA, MA)
London School of Economics (MA)
University of Massachusetts Amherst (EdD)
Boston College (JD)
Occupation| Lawyer
Spouse| Mina Pepper
Children| Lilly Pepper

William Francis Pepper (August 16, 1937 – April 7, 2024) was an American lawyer who was based in New York City and noted for his efforts to prove government culpability and the innocence of James Earl Ray in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Pepper also tried to prove the innocence of Sirhan Sirhan in the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. He was the author of several books, and had been active in other government conspiracy cases, including the 9/11 Truth movement,[1] and had advocated that George W. Bush be charged with war crimes.[2]

## Early life

[edit]

William Francis Pepper was born in New York City.[3] Pepper received a B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University, and studied abroad at the London School of Economics,[4] Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and J.D. degree from Boston College Law School.[5] He was admitted to the Bar in 1977.[6]

In September 1967, Pepper served as executive director of the National Conference for New Politics, which sought to unite disparate peace and civil rights groups. After feminists Jo Freeman and Shulamith Firestone were publicly denied a chance to speak at the event, Freeman recalled, "Pepper literally patted [Firestone] on the head and said, 'Cool down, little girl. We have more important things to talk about than women’s problems.'” Freeman, Firestone, and Ti-Grace Atkinson all became influential feminist activists in the wake of the conference.[7]

## Prominent cases

[edit]

### Martin Luther King cases

[edit]

Pepper stated Martin Luther King Jr. contacted him after seeing his photo essay, The Children of Vietnam, which was published in the January 1967 issue of Ramparts magazine. It depicted victims of napalm in Vietnam.[8] Pepper, who supported the Communist cause, later wrote "it was not then clear to Dr. King that Ho-Chi Minh’s reverence for Jefferson, Lincoln, and American democracy, as he idealized it, made him the legitimate father of a unified Vietnam"[9] Pepper later claimed that his conversation with King contributed to King's more adamant position against the Vietnam War, and that he was present at King's Riverside Church speech on April 4, 1967, in which King publicly attacked the war.

James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to King's assassination but soon recanted his confession. Pepper, who was Ray's last attorney, has postulated that Ray was not the shooter but was framed by the FBI, the CIA, the military, the Memphis police, and organized crime figures from New Orleans and Memphis.

Pepper represented James Earl Ray in a televised mock trial where Ray was found not guilty. Pepper's appeals to higher courts, and even the Supreme Court, failed. According to Pepper, "It looked like we were at the end of the road and then I came up with an idea, 'Well, look, why don't we try to have a real trial on television?" A mock trial was broadcast on HBO. The television jury found Ray not guilty.[10]

King's youngest son, Dexter King, met with Ray on March 27, 1997, at the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility. King subsequently said, "In the name of truth and justice, our family is calling for a trial, a trial James Earl Ray never had. ... I don't think his trial—if he is granted a trial—will necessarily give us the unequivocal proof, but at least in regard to new evidence, we will know more than we do now."[11]

In June 1997, Pepper appeared on ABC's Turning Point. He discussed the theory from his book Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King Jr. This theory that held that a hit team from the 20th special forces group was to kill King if a police sharpshooter failed. This group was supposedly led by a man named Billy Eidson, who Pepper claimed had since been killed in a coverup. Eidson was then brought on camera and refused to shake Pepper's hand. Eidson brought a $15 million lawsuit against Pepper's publisher which was later settled for an undisclosed amount.[12][13]

Following Ray's death, Pepper represented the King family in a wrongful death lawsuit, "King family vs. Loyd Jowers and other unknown co-conspirators". During a trial that lasted four weeks, Pepper produced over seventy witnesses. Jowers, testifying by deposition, stated that James Earl Ray was a scapegoat and not involved in the assassination. Jowers testified that Memphis police officer Earl Clark fired the fatal shots. On December 8, 1999, the Memphis jury found Jowers responsible, and also found that the assassination plot included "governmental agencies." The jury took less than an hour to find in favor of the King family for the requested sum of $100.[14]

### Robert F. Kennedy assassination

[edit]

On February 22, 2012, Pepper and co-counsel Laurie Dusek filed a court brief in District Court in Los Angeles claiming that a second gunman fired the shots that killed Robert F. Kennedy, and petitioning for the release of their client Sirhan Sirhan.[15] Pepper believes that Sirhan, who claims to have no memory of the shooting, was programmed under hypnosis to shoot and provide a distraction from the actual gunman who got away. Hypnosis expert Harvard Medical School professor Daniel P. Brown concluded that Sirhan did not act under his own volition and knowledge at the time of the shooting. He was a real "Manchurian Candidate".[16] ABC News said the story had all the makings of a great conspiracy theory.[17]

Sirhan Sirhan was again denied parole on February 10, 2016. On March 30, 2016, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a further appeal launched by Pepper, noting the appellant has not shown that "jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right and that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling."[18]

## Death

[edit]

Pepper died of pneumonia in New York City on April 7, 2024, at the age of 86.[19]

## Bibliography

[edit]

External videos

Book TV interview with Pepper on An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. C-SPAN, January 28, 2003.
Conversation with Pepper and Len Osanic. November 2008.

### Articles

[edit]

* "The Children of Vietnam." Ramparts, vol. 5, no. 7 (Jan. 1967), pp. 45–68. Photographs and text by William F. Pepper. Preface by Dr. Benjamin Spock.

### Books

[edit]

* The Self-Managed Child: Paths to Cultural Rebirth. New York: Harper & Row (1973). ISBN 0060903104.
* Sex Discrimination in Employment: An Analysis and Guide for Practitioner and Student. Charlottesville: Michie Co. (1982). ISBN 978-0872153318.
* Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Carroll & Graf (1995). ISBN 978-0786702534.
* An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. New York: Verso (2003). ISBN 978-1859846957.
* The Plot to Kill King: The Truth Behind the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Simon & Schuster (2016). ISBN 978-1510702189

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Brouillet, Carol. "Dr. William F. Pepper to Speak at 9/11 Truth Film Festival: Why 9/11 Truth Still Matters."Indybay, September 2, 2017. Archived from the original.
2. ^ "William Pepper."Radiodujour.com. Retrieved November 5, 2010. Archived June 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ Hubbell, Martindale (September 1998). Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory, Volume I: Europe, Asia, Australasia, Middle East & Africa. Martindale-Hubbell. ISBN 9781561603244.
4. ^ Printing Office, U.S. Government (1969). Extent of Subversion in Campus Disorders: Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee To Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Ninety-First Congress, First Session, Parts 1-3. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Publishing Office.
5. ^ Boris Lurie Art Foundation. "Dr. William F. Pepper." Retrieved November 5, 2010. Archived April 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ "William Pepper Lawyer Profile". martindale.com. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
7. ^ Bingham, Clara (2024). The Movement: How Women's Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973. New York: One Signal/Atria. pp. 76–78\. ISBN 978-1982144210.
8. ^ Gabrish Conlan, Mark (February 2, 2003). "William Pepper Calls Martin Luther King's Murder an Execution". San Diego Indy Media. Zenger's Newsmagazine. Archived from the original on November 27, 2003. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
9. ^ William F Pepper (January 15, 2018). "Inside Martin Luther King Jr.'s final, radical year". Salon.
10. ^ Johnson, Carrie. "Despite Swirl Of Conspiracy Theories, Investigators Say The MLK Case Is Closed." National Public Radio, April 4, 2018.
11. ^ Bragg, Rick. "King Family Seeks Trial for Ray Before He Dies With His Secrets." The New York Times, February 4, 1997.
12. ^ Stark, Tony (November 28, 1999). "Who Killed Martin Luther King?". The Guardian.
13. ^ "Who Killed Martin Luther King? (S1 EP 6)". Conspiracy?. 2004. History Channel.
14. ^ Kevin Sack and Emily Yellin (December 10, 1999). "Dr. King's Slaying Finally Draws A Jury Verdict, but to Little Effect". The New York Times.
15. ^ Brad Johnson and Michael Martinez (March 4, 2012). "Attorneys for RFK convicted killer Sirhan push 'second gunman' argument". CNN.
16. ^ "The assassination of Bobby Kennedy: Was Sirhan Sirhan hypnotized to be the fall guy?", Washington Post
17. ^ Assassin's Lawyer Says Sirhan Sirhan Was Brainwashed, ABC news
18. ^ "9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judgement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 19, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
19. ^ Risen, Clay (April 19, 2024). "William F. Pepper, 86, Dies; Claimed the Government Killed Dr. King". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Appearances on C-SPAN
* William F. Pepper at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Martin Luther King Jr.

Speeches, writings, movements, and protests

| Speeches|

* "Give Us the Ballot" (1957)
* "I Have a Dream" (1963)
* "How Long, Not Long" (1965)
* "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" (1967)
* "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)

|

Writings|

* Stride Toward Freedom (1958)
* "What Is Man?" (1959)
* "Second Emancipation Proclamation"
* Strength to Love (1963)
* "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963)
* Why We Can't Wait (1964)
* Conscience for Change (1967)
* Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Movements
and protests|

* Montgomery bus boycott (1955–1956)
* Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom (1957)
* Albany Movement (1961–1962)
* Birmingham campaign (1963)
* March on Washington (1963)
* St. Augustine movement (1963–1964)
* Selma to Montgomery marches (1965)
* Chicago Freedom Movement (1966)
* Mississippi March Against Fear (1966)
* Anti-Vietnam War movement (1967)
* Memphis sanitation strike (1968)
* Poor People's Campaign (1968)

Organizations|

* Montgomery Improvement Association
* Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

People

| Family|

* Coretta Scott King (wife)
* Yolanda King (daughter)
* Martin Luther King III (son)
* Dexter King (son)
* Bernice King (daughter)
* Martin Luther King Sr. (father)
* Alberta Williams King (mother)
* Christine King Farris (sister)
* A. D. King (brother)
* James Albert King (grandfather)
* Alveda King (niece)

|

Other
leaders|

* Ralph Abernathy (mentor, colleague)
* Ella Baker (colleague)
* James Bevel (strategist / colleague)
* Dorothy Cotton (colleague)
* Jesse Jackson (protégé)
* Bernard Lafayette (colleague)
* James Lawson (colleague)
* John Lewis (colleague)
* Joseph Lowery (colleague)
* Benjamin Mays (mentor)
* Diane Nash (colleague)
* James Orange (colleague)
* Bayard Rustin (advisor)
* Fred Shuttlesworth (colleague)
* C. T. Vivian (colleague)
* Wyatt Walker (colleague)
* Hosea Williams (colleague)
* Andrew Young (colleague)

Assassination

* Lorraine Motel (now National Civil Rights Museum)
* Riots
* Funeral
* James Earl Ray
* Jack Kershaw
* U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA)
* Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act
* Loyd Jowers
* Trial
* Conspiracy theories
* Executive Order 14176

Media

| Film|

* King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970 documentary)
* Our Friend, Martin (1999 animated)
* Boycott (2001 film)
* The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 (2008 documentary)
* Selma (2014 film)
* All the Way (2016 film)
* King in the Wilderness (2018 documentary)
* MLK/FBI (2020 documentary)
* Rustin (2023 film)

|

Television|

* King (1978 miniseries)
* "The First Store" (The Jeffersons, 1980)
* "Great X-Pectations" (A Different World, 1993)
* "The Promised Land" (New York Undercover, 1997)
* Selma, Lord, Selma (1999)
* "Return of the King" (The Boondocks, 2006)
* Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of MLK (2011 documentary)
* Genius (MLK/X, 2024)

Plays|

* The Meeting (1987)
* The Mountaintop (2009)
* I Dream (2010)
* All the Way (2012)

Books|

* Bearing the Cross (1986)
* America in the King Years (1988, 1998, 2006)
* King: A Life (2023)

Illustrated|

* Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story (1957 comic book)

Music|

* "Abraham, Martin and John" (Dion)
* "March! For Martin Luther King" (John Fahey)
* "Martin Luther King's Dream" (Strawbs)
* "Happy Birthday" (Stevie Wonder)
* "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (U2)
* "MLK" (U2)
* "King Holiday" (King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew)
* "By the Time I Get to Arizona" (Public Enemy)
* "Shed a Little Light" (James Taylor)
* "Up to the Mountain" (Patti Griffin)
* "Never Alone Martin" (Jason Upton)
* "Symphony of Brotherhood" (Miri Ben-Ari)
* Joseph Schwantner: New Morning for the World; Nicolas Flagello: The Passion of Martin Luther King (1995 album)
* "A Dream" (Common featuring will.i.am)
* "Glory" (Common and John Legend)

Related|

* Civil rights movement in popular culture
* Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc.
* King v. Trustees of Boston Univ.

Related topics

| Memorials and
eponymous locations|

* Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
* National Historical Park
* King Center for Nonviolent Social Change
* Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
* National Civil Rights Museum
* U.S. Capitol Rotunda sculpture
* Oval Office bust
* Homage to King sculpture, Atlanta
* Hope Moving Forward statue, Atlanta
* Safe House Black History Museum
* Statues of Martin Luther King Jr.
* Atlanta
* Boston
* Denver
* Houston
* Jersey City
* Milwaukee
* Mexico City
* Newark
* Pueblo, Colorado
* Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, San Francisco
* Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial (Compton)
* Landmark for Peace Memorial, Indianapolis
* The Dream sculpture, Portland, Oregon
* Kennedy–King College
* Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C.
* Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose
* Paris park
* Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr.
* King County, Washington
* Eponymous streets

|

Other topics|

* Martin Luther King Jr. Day
* passage
* Big Six
* African American founding fathers of the United States
* Authorship issues
* FBI–King suicide letter
* Martin Luther King Jr., A Current Analysis
* Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
* Season for Nonviolence
* Civil rights movement in popular culture
* Lee–Jackson–King Day

* v
* t
* e

9/11 conspiracy theories

Key topics|

* Advance-knowledge conspiracy theories
* Opinion polls
* 9/11 truth movement
* World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories

Groups|

* Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth
* Million Muslim March

Film and TV|

* 911: In Plane Site
* A Few Days in September
* Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura
* Loose Change
* "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce"
* Zeitgeist

Books|

* 9/11: The Big Lie
* American Conspiracies
* Among the Truthers
* Debunking 9/11 Myths
* The CIA and September 11
* The New Pearl Harbor
* The Terror Timeline

Category

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Netherlands

Academics|

* CiNii

People|

* DDB

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC
* Yale LUX

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