US Deep State murdered Martin Luther King: Ron Paul

The US Deep State murdered American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. because of his heroic opposition to the Vietnam War, according to former US congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Dr. Paul, the founder of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, made the remarks on his show on Monday, January 15, which is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Dr. King.

“This is always interesting to me because over many, many years – decades – I think my opinion has changed,” Paul said in the opening remarks of his show.

“You know as I became more anti-war and less conservative, more libertarian then there were some things in Martin Luther King’s life that one time I didn’t like -- his economic policies, I wasn’t the champion of or a champion now,” he added.  

“But there is other good stuff in his life, and that’s why I think recognizing Martin Luther King is important. And we’d get into this a little bit, but the two big things is: He believed in non-violence, he believed in civil disobedience but no violence,” he stated.

“And, I believe one of the key reasons why he was murdered by our government because he became anti-war, and came out loud and clear and opposed Vietnam [war], which was heroic at the time,” he the veteran former politician noted.

“And of course the other one that I mentioned in the past in some of our programs was Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay, for not wanting to go over there and kill people who had never done him any harm,” he said.

“For the most part, the pro-war movement, the Deep State was very much in charge even back then. And of course Martin Luther King was independent-minded.  I believe that’s the main thrust of how and why he got murdered,” Dr. Paul observed.  

The Deep State refers to powerful economic and intelligence organizations that control the country's affairs.

PressTV-Martin Luther King: An American hero

Martin Luther King actually believed in the American dream and wanted to achieve it for everyone.

Martin Luther King, a clergyman and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights in the 1950s and 60s.

American protesters on Monday staged nationwide demonstrations to mark Martin Luther King's Day and protest against racial and economic injustice in the United States.

At demonstrations, activists, residents and teachers honored the late civil rights leader on what would have been his 89th birthday.

The protesters spoke out against President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies and rigid criminal justice agenda.  In New York City, prominent lawmakers and community leaders condemned Trump's racial rhetoric.

Ron Paul's libertarian confusion

In response to comments made by former Ron Paul on the US holiday commemorating Martin Luther King, American journalist Don Debar said, “Paul is an interesting example of the ideological confusion which exists in political culture of the US.”

Dr. Paul, former Representative for Texas' 14th and 22nd congressional districts and a three-time American presidential candidate, is widely acknowledged to be a leading proponent of libertarianism in the United States.

“Even the most cursory examination of US foreign policy - or of the phenomenon of imperialism over the history of the human race - reveals that the fundamental purpose of war is to provide the elite of the aggressor with the economic domination of the victim. Put simply, the reason there is war is that those who control policy for the belligerent state see profit either in the act of war, or in its outcome,” DeBar told Press TV on Tuesday.

He added, “In the peek behind the ideological curtain of American thinking on the subject, Rear Admiral S. B. Luce, USN, opened his well-known ‘The Benefits of War’ thus:

“Scourge though it be, and much as its practice is to be deplored, we must still recognize war as the operation of the economic laws of nature for the government of the human family.  It stimulates national growth, solves otherwise insoluble problems of domestic and political economy, and purges a nation of its humors. According to an ancient proverb, Purgamenta hujus mundi sunt tria, pestis, helium, etfrateria (There are three methods by which this world is purified - the plague, war and monastic seclusion)."

“Ron Paul's libertarianism is, to be kind, naive, in that it fails to note the essential fact that those same interests who seek relief from government - i.e., public - regulation of their economic activity are the ones who benefit most from war,” the journalist noted.

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