WI MLK Murdered in Chicago 1966?

In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr and the SCLC moved north to participate in the Chicago Freedom Movement. At this point, King was known primarily for his fight against segregation in the South; though he had criticized the war in Vietnam, it was not yet so pronounced as it would become in 1967, and the Poor People's Campaign had not yet even begun.

Chicago signified, in many ways, a major shift and expansion in King's role in the civil rights movement, but it did not go well. On August 5, for example, a march through Marquette Park was met with thrown bottles and screaming throngs; there was fear that things would get out of hand, possibly starting a riot.

What if things did get out of hand -- and what if, in the chaos, Martin Luther King Jr was killed? It can be a gunshot, a thrown object striking King in the temple, or whatever else works -- first, what are the immediate effects on the Civil Rights Movement and America at large? How is MLK's legacy different? Do riots break out as OTL, and if so, does that mean the riot climate in 67 is different, giving a whole different narrative to urban unrest? What else?
 

Hendryk

Banned
This will probably have consequences for the 1968 Democratic convention, which, for one, might not even be held in Chicago.
 
What Paul said. The unrest cycle breaks out a few months earlier than OTL, otherwise all other changes depends on the number of butterflies we introduce.

As for Hendryk's point: it wasn't just Daley's pleas that landed the DNC in Chicago. Was also because the alternate venues on their shortlist had inadequate facilities (Philadelphia, Atlantic City) or didn't trust the security forces' political commanders (Reagan in CA, Kirk in FL). The Chicago PD was controlled by Daley and Illinois NG was controlled by a Daley puppet.
 
I see the same riots. I not sure how this changes anything.

My thinking was, OTL, the riots following MLK's death seemed to be the climax of urban unrest in this period; that the following year, not only will urban violence be, to at least a certain extent, discredited, but potential riot sites will still be recovering from last year.
 
Top