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Chapter 15: Bloodbath in Memphis

In JAN. 1968 2 sanitation workers in MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE were killed when rainy weather short circuited the electrical compacting motor of a garbage truck all because they climbed in the rear to get out of the rain seeing as they were never allowed to ever come into the employees' lounge because of the color of their skin. DR. KING realized it was time to take action & show the city of MEMPHIS that this was no laughing matter! So before going down to MEMPHIS he paid a call on THE ADDAMS FAMILY, & requested financial help from his good friend GOMEZ ADDAMS. Naturally, GOMEZ said "I'M all in favor of the garbage strike going on in MEMPHIS, but I figure what the heck? After all, my money has been sitting around in the vaults of various banking corporations throughout the world & I've been looking for someone with a worthy cause of some kind. Charitable, or otherwise for which I should donate financial funds to!? So put me down for the first $1,000,000.00 just like you did when you organized the boycotting of the city transit buses in MONTGOMERY (after arrest of MRS. ROSA PARKS) as well as the attempts of the FREEDOM RIDERS, the march on WASHINGTON, the demonstrations in BIRMINGHAM, & the day you marched onto the bridge in SELMA!? How about a check from the 44TH NATIONAL BANK of BUENOS AIRES?" DR. KING replied "Bring on the check book, GOMEZ ADDAMS!" Then GOMEZ handed the check to MARTIN, & RADAR, KLINGER, HAWKEYE, TRAPPER, B.J., BEN BRADDOCK, PETE ARON, RALPH HARVEY, NINO BARLINI, & others put their checks into the financial end of the sanitation workers strike in MEMPHIS.

MARCH 31ST, 1968. PRESIDENT JOHNSON went on tv & announced that he would not even try to run again, or get elected to another term in the WHITE HOUSE. 5 days later in MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING was shot and killed!!! After a call was made to MRS. KING in ATLANTA, GEORGIA, yet another call was made to GRAND RAPIDS, MINNESOTA, & this made RADAR decide to inform GOMEZ ADDAMS. He met KLINGER at the ADDAMS mansion with PETE ARON & NINO BARLINI! When LURCH CRABWELL answered the doorbell RADAR said "LURCH! It's an emergency! We have to see MR. ADDAMS! It's official Sheriff's Department business!" LURCH replied "Follow me". Then LURCH announced their arrival saying "SHERIFF O'REILLY, INSPECTOR KLINGER, & Deputies ARON & BARLINI". GOMEZ said RADAR! What in the name of LOUIE B. NUNN are doing here?" RADAR began to studder as he said "GOMEZ! MARTIN is dead!" GOMEZ asked "Was MARTIN his last name, or his first name?" "First name". "What was his last name?" "KING!" GOMEZ was horrified! Then he said "LURCH!", as he pulled down on the hangman's noose to ring the gigantic JAPANESE gong to ring for LURCH. BONNGGGG!!!!!!!! Then LURCH walked into the room saying "You, rang?" GOMEZ said LURCH, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. has died in MEMPHIS. Please call up SAM L. HILLIARED'S phone number so I can tell him that there is to be an emergency meeting of the board of regents for ADDAMS HALL". LURCH replied "Yes, MR. ADDAMS". Then LURCH dialed ROCKFORD 8-4477, & MR. HILLIARD answered "Hello. This SAM HILLIARD. How may I help you?" GOMEZ said "HILLIARD. Have you decided when to hold the spring break holiday yet?" SAM replied "I'M still working on that particular school holiday, SIR. Why did you want to know?" "DR. KING died in MEMPHIS tonight". "GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST! How did he die?" "Murder". "Murder? Are you certain?" "Yes!" "Oh, JESUS CHRIST OUR HOLY SAVIOR, Why did you allow for this bloody event to take place?" "HILLIARD, you gotta remain calm. Besides, MARTIN always managed to remain calm in most situations!?" "Alright, well, just what should I do, SIR?" "Inform the parents of all students in ADDAMS HALL, that the school is gonna have a kind of a mourning period in remembrance of a good friend!" "That sounds fairly reasonable, & I'll tell them that he was a very good of mine as well as the board of regents, too! SIR?" "Good. You work on the parents of the students & I'll make arrangements for a trip to ATLANTA, GEORGIA for the funeral". "I'll see you in ATLANTA, SIR!" "Be seeing you, HILLIARD".

Meanwhile, at the airport in ATLANTA, MRS. KING was being paged to report to the public relations office of the airport. Only then did she learn of her husband's death. In INDIANAPOLIS that night BOBBY KENNEDY was speaking to citizens in the ghetto & he informed them of MARTIN'S death & said that we should carry on with his dream of peace between all races of human beings in AMERICA. Also, he set up 3 additional phones for all of the incoming calls with sympathy for MARTIN'S loss of life. Singer HARRY BELAFONTE also came to be there beside MRS. KING in her state of mourning. Even, the stars of tv's "I SPY" namely, BILL COSBY & ROBERT CULP came & they spent an entire afternoon playing with the KING children. Also, RADAR & KLINGER & their families also came down to ATLANTA. Also, rioting and fires and looting occurred in several major U.S. cities. WASHINGTON, D.C. alone experienced 10 deaths out of a total of 39 throughout AMERICA itself! Meanwhile, in FORT WAYNE, INDIANA FRANK BURNS received a visit at his house from J.EDGAR HOOVER as HOOVER said "Great shooting work, BURNS!!! You killed DR. KING and now all we need is one of my fellow southerners to be framed for the crime itself!!! Right?" FRANK said "Whatever you say goes, MR. HOOVER!" So naturally HOOVER went through several police arrest files in the south eastern UNITED STATES in order to find a good scapegoat to take the fall and serve prison time for a murder he never committed. They chose a white MEMPHIS janitor named JAMES EARL RAY. Also, they had to make it appear that he bought the rifle and shells at the sporting goods store where FRANK took most of his sporting goods purchases to in FORT WAYNE. So when they first tried to get the clerk to play along with them he said "Well, MR. BURNS. MR. HOOVER. I'd sure like to help you blackmail that RAY fella for DR. KING'S murder, but seeing as how MR. BURNS is the legally registered owner of the weapon used in the crime and such. My religious ethics forbid me to help out. So therefore, MR. BURNS should be the one to go on trial for murder, instead?" Just then RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON cocked back on the hammer of a stub-nosed MARLIN .38 caliber 5-shot revolver and as he pointed it at the clerk's head he said "If you do not help blackmail JAMES EARL RAY, then I'll shoot you down in your store as of now and then MR. BURNS will get his fellow Ku Klux Klan members over here to burn a cross in front of the store!!! Now do you want that to happen or not?" The clerk replied "Okay, you guys win a small victory in the battle to stop civil rights for all minorities in AMERICA for now, but you'll be sorry when BOBBY KENNEDY learns of this, and don't think he won't neither!?" So with that JAMES EARL RAY was framed for the crime! Later in ATLANTA at the EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH, MARTIN'S funeral was in full swing. Only 750 mourners could fit inside. All others waited outside as more than 150,000 mourners attended the services. Then came the march to the graveyard. A ramshackled farm wagon being pulled by 2 mules guided the procession through ATLANTA to the cemetery. The O'REILLYS were only a few yards away from the KINGS during the event. The PIERCES were keeping up a fairly good pace as they walked down the very same streets that GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN marched on when his Union Army troops burned ATLANTA in 1864. Then with having MARTIN buried they made their way back to the KING residence as well as their lodging facilities for the night.