Martin Luther King Jr. | 1966-68

Originally published January 11, 2016 at 1:12 pm

A rare moment of leisure for Dr. King: playing pool in February 1966. (The Associated Press)

Civil rights activist James Meredith grimaces in pain as he pulls himself across Highway 51 in Hernando, Miss. after being shot during a voting rights march, June 6, 1966. Meredith, who defied segregation to enroll at the University of Mississippi in 1962, completed the march from Memphis, Tenn., to Jackson, Miss., after treatment of his wounds. (Jack Thornhell / The Associated Press)

Mississippi patrolmen shove Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other marchers during the 220-mile “March Against Fear” from Memphis, Tenn. to Jackson, Miss. June 8, 1966. (The Associated Press)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ducks down and holds his head after being struck by a rock as he led 600 demonstrators on a civil rights march through the Gage Park neighborhood of Chicago southwest side on August 6, 1966. (The Associated Press)

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gestures and shouts to his congregation in Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on April 30, 1967. He urged America to repent and abandon what he called its “tragic, reckless adventure in Vietnam.” (The Associated Press)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tells reporters he is “disenchanted” with President Johnson’s Vietnam policies and may endorse either Sen. Robert Kennedy or Sen. Eugene McCarthy for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination. Undated. (AP Photo/Anthony Camerano)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, right, lead a march on behalf of striking Memphis sanitation workers March 28, 1968. The dignity of the march soon gave way to disorder as a group of about 200 youths began breaking windows and looting. King agonized over what had happened. (Sam Melhorn / The Associated Press)

A police officer uses his nightstick on a youth reportedly involved in the looting that followed the breakup of a march led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on March 28, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. Black leaders accused the police of brutality with police officers said they did what was necessary to restore order. In the wake of the violence, a curfew was imposed and more than 3,800 National Guardsmen were rushed to the city. (Jack Thornell / The Associated Press)

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stands with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., on April 3, 1968, a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place. From left are Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, King, and Ralph Abernathy. (The Associated Press)

King’s assassination was international news. Here, London newspaper headlines about his death. April 7, 1968. (The Associated Press)

Black, white, young and old sang “We Shall Overcome” as they marched down Denny Way to the Seattle Center on April 7, 1968 to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had been felled by an assassin’s bullet. The crowd was estimated at 10,000. (Bruce McKim / The Seattle Times)

King’s funeral procession through the streets of Atlanta on April 9, 1968 drew this huge crowd of mourners. (The Associated Press)

In Atlanta, mourners kept an all-night vigil outside the Ebenezer Baptist Church waiting to view the body of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Thousands later filed past the bier where he was buried in a cemetery on the South Side. April 14, 1968. (The Associated Press)

Coretta Scott King and her daughter, Bernice are shown April 9, 1968, in Atlanta, Ga. attending the funeral of her husband, Martin Luther King, Jr., in this Pulitzer-prize winning file photograph. (Moneta J. Sleet, Jr. / The Associated Press)

Coretta Scott King and her four children view the body of her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in Atlanta on April 7, 1968. (The Associated Press)

The family of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. walk in the funeral procession of the slain civil rights leader, in Atlanta, in this April 9, 1968 file photo. From left: daughter Yolanda, 12; King’s brother A.D. King; daughter Bernice, 5; widow Coretta Scott King; Rev. Ralph Abernathy; sons Dexter, 7, and Martin Luther King III, 10. (Don Goan Charles / The Associated Press)

Undated photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Flip Schulke)

King's opposition to the Vietnam War makes headlines while his battle for civil rights continues. But on April 4, 1968, an assassin's bullet ended his crusade.

By

Courtney Riffkin

Seattle Times photo staff

Courtney Riffkin: 206-464-2203 or criffkin@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @SeaTimesPhoto.