Mel Ayton

See www.melayton.com

Mel Ayton lives in Durham, England. He has a B.A. Honours degree in politics and history and a master's degree, M.A. (Dunelm). For his Durham University degree Ayton specialised in the teaching of American history in US schools and colleges. He is a former teacher, deputy school principal and college lecturer. Throughout his teaching career he has taught in elementary schools, high schools and colleges. In 1988 he was selected as a Fulbright Teacher and taught in schools in Michigan, USA. He also worked in Bermuda and taught in Zambia.

In 2003 Mel Ayton was the historical adviser for the BBC’s television documentary, The Kennedy Dynasty, which was broadcast in the UK and the US in November 2003. He also worked as a historical consultant for NBC News, National Geographic Channel and the Discovery Times Channel and appeared in the documentaries - CIA - Mind Control (2006), CIA Secret Experiments (2008) and Conspiracy Test: The Robert Kennedy Assassination (2008). Ayton was also a guest on Fox News’ Hannity show in 2009 and 2014.

Ayton has appeared in television programmes produced by the BBC’s Newsnight and the UK’s Channel 4 News and has also appeared as a guest on numerous US radio talk shows including: The Peter Boyles Show, The Dennis Miller Show, The Michael Medved Show, The Lars Larson Show, The Janet Mefferd Show, The Brian Thomas Show, Bill Martinez Live, The Paul Ibbetson Show, The Schilling Show, In The Market with Janet Parshall, WDUN’s Morning News with Bill and Joel, The Steve Cochran Show, Ireland’s Newstalk with Sean Moncrieff, and Canada’s Ted Woloshyn Show.

Ayton is the author of numerous articles for various print and online publications, including History Ireland, Crime Magazine, David Horowitz's FrontPage, Max Holland’s Washington Decoded, George Mason University's History News Network, The Los Angeles Times and TIME magazine.

Ayton’s recent book is a second edition of The Forgotten Terrorist: Sirhan Sirhan and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (University of Nebraska Press/Potomac Books, 2019). The new edition includes an updated Afterword by the author and a Preface written by Harvard Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz.

In 2011 Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, sought a new trial or freedom from his life sentence asserting his innocence. In December 2011 California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris, through her Deputy Attorney General, Jamie Fuster, requested Ayton’s assistance in preparing a brief challenging Sirhan’s claim that he is innocent of the murder of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The California courts eventually dismissed Sirhan’s request in 2015. (See: https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20150106770 )

Mel Ayton is also the author of:

Questions of Controversy - The Kennedy Brothers (University of Sunderland Press 2001)

The JFK Assassination - Dispelling The Myths and Challenging the Conspiracy Theorists (Woodsfield Publishing, 2002)

A Racial Crime - James Earl Ray and the Murder of Martin Luther King Jr. (ArcheBooks, 2005)

Dark Soul of the South - The Life and Crimes of Racist Killer Joseph Paul Franklin (University of Nebraska Press/Potomac Books, 2011)

Justice Denied - Bermuda's Black Militants, The 'Third Man' and the Assassinations of a Police Chief and Governor (Strategic Media Books, 2013)

Beyond Reasonable Doubt – The Warren Report and Lee Harvey Oswald’s Guilt and Motive 50 Years On (Strategic Media Books, 2014)

Hunting The President Threats, Plots and Assassination Attempts – From FDR to Obama

(Regnery Publishing, 2014)

Plotting To Kill The President – Assassination Attempts – From Washington to Hoover (University of Nebraska Press/Potomac Books, 2017)

Protecting The Presidential Candidates - From JFK to Biden (Frontline Books, 2021)

The Kennedy Assassinations - Debunking The Conspiracy Theories (Frontline Books) 2022

The Man Who Killed Martin Luther King (Frontline Books) 2023