In 1999 [pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Watertown, Rev. Mike Clark] was asked by the King family's attorney, William Pepper, to serve as media spokesman during a wrongful death civil suit filed against a Memphis cafe owner, Lloyd Jowers.

"The family had come to believe that James Earl Ray was not the assassin of Martin Luther King and believed [Jowers] was part of a conspiracy to kill him," Clark said.

"On December 8, 1999, the jury reached a verdict which really revised history's judgment about this murder," said Clark of the conclusion that Jowers had hired another man, not Ray, to murder King on April 4, 1968...

Ray recanted his original confession and maintained his innocence for most of his life...

"It was amazing human drama to see those 70 people, almost none of them were conspiracy theorists -- they were just saying, 'Well, on that day, here's what I saw' or, 'On that day, here's what I heard.'

"One of the key moments for me was when Andrew Young testified," said Clark, referring to the civil rights activist and former UN ambassador.

"Young, from the witness stand, looked at Dexter King, who was 5 or 6 at the time his father died, and he said, 'You've probably wondered over the years why those of us who worked so closely with your dad didn't do more to find out what happened to him,' " Clark said.

" 'Your father used to say to us, when I'm killed, don't spend a lot of time trying to find out what happened, just don't let the movement die,' " Clark recalled Young saying.
[...]
For Clark, most King observances today offer a diluted portrait of King and his beliefs, especially in the last year of his life.

"For those who were in power in the United States government in 1968, Martin Luther King was not someone you made a holiday about," said Clark. "Martin Luther King was viewed as a threat to those in power" for his criticism of the Vietnam War."
[...]