“And, following John Frary, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” imlpies that Martin Luther King is no better than the Ku Klux Klan.

Your analogy is false as Martin Luther King never fought for freedom, he advocated for it. He believed in passive resistance and not violent confrontation.

“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.”
Martin Luther King

Here’s his beliefs on rioting:

“The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility. ”