Is John MacArthur Telling The Truth? Perkins Confirms Charles Evers' Story
Well, there's an update to the story regarding John MacArthur's account of the night that Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. As you know, fellow GKer Paige Rogers wrote an article comparing Pastor MacArthur's account of that night with FBI and Police Reports, as well as the first-hand testimony of Charles Evers and the writings of John Perkins, both of whom were cited as being as being present at the moment when they found out that MLK had been killed.
I'm not going to dive back into Paige's entire article, especially as she's answered her critics both in a written article here on The GK, as well as in an episode of Conversations with Jeff, but there were three main points of contention with Pastor MacArthur's account of that night. These points have been refuted both by the testimony of Charles Evers, as well as FBI and Police reports from the crime scene.
1. MacArthur claims to have been in the office of Charles Evers, with both Evers and John Perkins present. He goes into very specific detail about the moment they found out about MLK being assassinated, even going so far as to detail the topic of conversation.
2. MacArthur claims that he went to Memphis with Evers and Perkins within a few hours of the murder, going straight to the scene of the crime, where he was able to stand over the blood of MLK at the Lorraine Motel.
3. MacArthur claims that he gained access to the room where James Earl Ray took the shot from, claiming to have stood on the toilet in the bathroom, despite the fact that the shot was taken from the bathtub.
Each of these claims have been refuted in Paige's article.
Almost immediately after the post, Phil Johnson, Fred Butler, Hohn Cho and Jeff Maples all wrote responses pushing a wild conspiracy theory that took the authorship away from Paige and claimed that this was all a hit piece by Brannon Howse to destroy John MacArthur, despite there being no evidence to support this false accusation.
During Phil's response, he quoted John MacArthur as saying
I'm not surprised he (Charles Evers) doesn't remember me. I was just a young unknown. I have never said I was in the car with him. But I was absolutely with that group of men who traveled to Memphis. I have great love for John Perkins and genuine respect for Charles Evers. I am honored to have been in their presence on that monumental occasion, but with all the trauma, I'm not surprised Charles Evers doesn't remember me. However, my relationship with John Perkins has continued through the years.
Additionally, Phil, himself, added,
It's frankly not the least bit surprising that John Perkins would decline to give an interview to Brannon Howse for a hit piece targeting John MacArthur.
Virtually all of the articles attempting to defend Pastor MacArthur have posed the same wild conspiracy theories and attempts to discredit Paige Rogers through libelous charges. Instead of focusing on refuting the evidence provided, they chose to come up with possible excuses and attempts to discredit the opposition. This is usually what happens when you don't have the truth on your side.
So, during the course of the online conversation, Warren Throckmorton decided to question the narrative being pushed by Phil Johnson and the rest of the MacArthur defenders. Phil Johnson responded in his usual snarky way:
So, Mr Throckmorton did just that. As he explains in an article he posted on his website:
Although it took several weeks for us to connect, I was able today to speak to Deborah Perkins, one of John Perkins’ daughters, who said she was empowered to speak for her father on this matter. I asked if John Perkins had gone to Memphis within hours of MLK’s murder. She said, “That’s not a comment we can offer a comment on.” She added, “Charles Evers has already commented on that. He already said that wasn’t right.” I asked, “So, do you think Charles Evers’ statement is accurate?” Ms. Perkins said, “Yes, Charles Evers’ statement is accurate if he made it.”
Ms. Perkins said that John MacArthur was a friend of Dr. Perkins and that was all they wanted to say but Charles Evers was accurate in what he said about the situation.
This completely refutes one of the claims made by Phil Johnson, where he claims that Mr Perkins has in fact confirmed Pastor MacArthur's account. Clearly, according to Mr Perkins' daughter, they stand by Charles Evers account, NOT Pastor MacArthur's. It's completely understandable, however, that John Perkins would not want to publicly expose the false claims his close friend made. However, his daughter was extremely clear that they stand by Charles Evers' account.
Now, Mr Throckmorton could have easily stopped there, write an article sharing Ms Perkins' statements and call it a day. But he followed up even further and reached out to Charles Evers, himself, to confirm his version of the events. Now, Phil Johnson & Co had been trying to say that since the recording being released in Paige's article was apparently altered, that disproves the entire story. According to Paige, her own conversation with Mr Evers did not record due to technical difficulties, so she posted the only interview she had of him sharing his story of the night MLK was killed. While they tried to use that to discredit her entire article (as if the identity of the questioner proved or disproved the entire article), I repeatedly stated that they should just call up Mr Evers to ask him his version of the events. To my knowledge no one has done that. That is, until Mr Throckmorton took it upon himself to do so.
To make sure that I understood Charles Evers’ position and that he did indeed make the statement attributed to him in the February report, I called and talked to him. He repeated his claim that he did not remember John MacArthur, and he did not remember going to Memphis that night. He added that he might have gone to Memphis within days of the murder but he didn’t remember for sure.
As you can see, Mr Evers confirms his version of the story to Mr Throckmorton, which Paige discussed in her article. So now we have the only two people named in Pastor MacArthur's story refuting his account and actually confirming Charles Evers' account which is irreconcilable with JMac's story.
This should vindicate Paige Rogers. There have been multiple websites which carried articles attempting to discredit Paige on a personal level, including Team Pyro, Pulpit & Pen and Reformation Charlotte. With this new testimony from BOTH Charles Evers and John Perkins daughter confirming the accuracy of Paige's article, these website should provide a public retraction and clarification and make this right.
I highly encourage you to read Warren Throckmorton's entire article entitled John Perkins’ Daughter: Charles Evers’ Statement is Accurate. Don't just take my word for it. And, in closing, I'll allow Mr Throckmorton's closing statement sum it all up:
In summary, when John Perkins’ representative had the chance to confirm John MacArthur’s story, she declined to comment; then she spontaneously affirmed the accuracy of the person who said it wasn’t true. This is what I can offer at this time. What it means is surely in the eye of the beholder.
#MartinLutherKingJR #JohnMacArthur #MLK #CivilRights #CharlesEvers #PaigeRogers #JeffDornik #PhilJohnson #FredButler #GraceToYou #PulpitAndPen #ReformationCharlotte #WarrenThrockmorton #TeamPyro #HohnCho #JeffMaples #JohnPerkins
