Robert F. Kennedy Speech on Death of Martin L. King : Here on the evening of April, 4 1968, Kennedy came to address a large crowd of mostly African Americans in his bid for Democratic Party nomination for president of the U.S.. Instead, visibly shaken, he gave an impromptu speech about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. that day in Memphis Tenn. Kennedy urged the crowd to follow Rev. King's lead and respond with understanding and prayer. Citing the need to avoid division, hatred, and violence, he called for love, wisdom, compassion and justice. The speech is credited with keeping Indianapolis calm, while other cities reacted with violence.