Martin Luther King Jr. was the victim of an assassination attempt nearly a decade before his death.
Question
What was MLK doing when the first assassination attempt happened?
Answer
On September 20, 1958, Martin Luther King Jr. was in Harlem signing copies of his new book, Stride Toward Freedom, in Blumstein’s department store when he was approached by Izola Ware Curry. She plunged a seven-inch letter opener into his chest. The tip of the blade came to rest alongside his aorta, and King underwent hours of delicate emergency surgery.
So the short answer is, he was signing his books at a department store when the first assassination attempt occurred.