Robert Kennedy

NARRATOR: This Indiana Bicentennial minute is made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and law firm of Krieg DeVault.

Newspaper headlines the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

PAULEY: April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King is killed in Memphis while Robert Kennedy is in Indiana running for President. Breaking the news to an African-American crowd at 17th and Broadway in Indianapolis, Kennedy shared his grief, telling them his brother was shot by a white man too. “We can choose to be violent,” he said, then continued:

Video of Robert Kennedy making the speech in Indianapolis.

KENNEDY: “We can make an effort as Martin Luther King did and replace that violence with an effort to understand, compassion and love.”

Video shows rioting and looting of cities, then shows the city of Indianapolis. Then an image shows Robert Kennedy’s gravesite.

PAULEY: Rioting marred many US cities that night but Indianapolis remained calm. Two months later, Robert Kennedy was dead. Words he spoke here are quoted at his gravesite. I’m Jane Pauley with this Indiana Bicentennial Minute.

NARRATOR: Made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and law firm of Krieg DeVault.