In this WSB newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia on February 17, 1960, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks to a reporter about fear, sacrifice, and taxes after being indicted and arrested for tax fraud in Alabama. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tells the reporter that while he knew he was being investigated for tax fraud in Alabama, he did not expect that the grand jury to indict him or that he would be arrested that day. King confirms his willingness to go to jail, hoping his "willingness to suffer and accept this type of sacrifice" will arouse the "conscience of many citizens of our nation." The reporter mentions comments King made the day before in Durham, North Carolina at a mass meeting supporting student-led sit-ins in the state before asking King more about the indictment; there is a break in the audio during the reporter's question. Citing the recent closing of the Highlander Folk School by Tennessee officials, King points out that many areas in the South use tax charges to "harass individuals working in the area of freedom and integration and brotherhood." When asked if he is ever afraid, King replies that while he has not totally overcome fear, he is strengthened "from the realization that in the struggle we have cosmic companionship and that the cause is right." The reporter asks King about rumors that he moved into an $85,000 house when he moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia. King acknowledges the rumor but counters that he is renting his home and that the only property he owns is a 1954 Pontiac. He also reports that his taxes have been investigated two or three times before; when he announced that he was moving from Montgomery to Atlanta, the state of Alabama initiated another tax audit. While the Alabama auditor who reviewed King's returns made it clear everything was in order, he also recognized the state's pressure to bring a charge against King. The clip breaks from King's statement to an image of a bird in a hole or a nest. The clip records only a portion of the reporter's question about King's nonviolent inspiration. King recognizes the influence of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and asserts "the method of nonviolent resistance is one of the most potent, if not the most potent, weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom." After King's February 17 arrest, he willingly returned to Alabama to face the perjury charges (according to King biographer David Garrow, "the first time Alabama had ever prosecuted someone for perjury on a tax return"). Testimony began May 25, and on May 28, an all-white jury returned a not guilty verdict, clearing King of the charges.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 4 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

1 clip (about 1 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks to a reporter after being indicted and arrested for tax fraud in Alabama in Atlanta, Georgia, 1960 February 17, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0919, 00:00/03:47, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.