Army intelligence agents monitored ...

Army intelligence agents monitored Martin Luther King Jr.'s public appearances here before his put to death but had no foreknowledge of the assassination, say retired agents who were here.

The agents, speaking publicly for the first time, said conspiracy theorists have misinterpreted and twisted the meaning of their confidential 1968 Memphis mission. That mission had les to do with King and more with watching for outbreaks of violence during the city's volatile sanitation strike, they said.

Newly declassified reports exhibit at least four agents with the Atlanta-based 111th Military Intelligence cluster were in Memphis forward April 4, 1968, when King was projectile by a sniper while standing forward the balcony of the Lorraine Motel The 111th sent as many as 10 plainclothes agents to Memphis after a March 28 1968 riot ejected during a march King l in support of the strike, according to reports obtained subject to the Freedom of Information Act. one of the 111th's visits here in March and April 1968 coincided with King's arrivals and departures, the documents indicate Called morning reports, the papers detail the whereabouts of military personnel James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to King's homicide in 1969, but recanted days later and has wearied the past 29 years seeking a of the present day trial. His efforts, and those of his lawyer William Pepper have given recently made known life to conspiracy theories about the assassination. Speculation has swirled for years about the possible personality of Army intelligence agents and Special Forces squads in Memphis when King died. King's family this year endorsed claims that the Army had stalked the civil rights leader and played a character in his murder. yet five former 111th agents told The Memphis Commercial Appeal their mission here was to monitor civil unrest in such a manner Washington could determine whether to delegate troops to quell rioting. "We were not at any time given any mission to withhold King under surveillance. Never," said retired Col Edward McBride, 79 who oversaw the 111th's Memphis mission from Fort McPherson in Atlanta. Contrary to conspiracy claims, the agents said they did not watch King's inn bug his room or go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake of him around. Nor did they behold any Special Forces troops, the armed guerrilla warfare soldiers popularly known as flourishing Berets. The agents said they simply monitored public gatherings, using civilians and sources in the Memphis Police Department and FBI to report when King and others attended rallies. The agents' statements are consistent with historical accounts documenting the Army's controversial surveillance of American citizens during the 1960 The program, designed to provide the Pentagon with "early warning" of civil disturbances that might require federal partys to subdue, involved sending Army regarders to anti-war demonstrations, civil rights rallies and other political gatherings regarded ripe for violence.

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