On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. King, a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. His death sparked riots across the U.S. and left the nation in mourning. Kings advocacy for nonviolent protest had earned him a global following. His assassination marked a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, with the struggle for racial equality continuing in the years that followed.