“You shouldn’t have withdrawn the marshals,” King protested, with such force that Kennedy held the phone away from his ear. King’s distress spilled over as he said that Kennedy had abandoned his people to the hostilities of Patterson’s National Guard, acting now under plenary powers. There might be heart attacks or strokes, with so many people stuffed into the church under such stress. He asked what kind of justice there could be in a land where the authorities permitted churchgoers to be terrorized and then forced them to huddle all night under inhuman conditions. He said he felt betrayed.
