The Donald Trump administration on Monday released over 230,000 pages of previously classified documents related to the assassination of iconic civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., nearly six decades after his death.
Despite the development being hailed as a significant step toward government transparency, surviving members of King’s family have expressed serious concerns over how the declassified records could be weaponised to tarnish their father’s legacy.
Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, announced the document release in a statement on Monday, noting that the files were published “with minimal redactions for privacy reasons.”
Gabbard said, “The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government’s investigation into Dr King’s assassination.
“We are ensuring that no stone is left unturned in our mission to deliver complete transparency on this pivotal and tragic event in our nation’s history.”
The move follows an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump, which called for the declassification of files relating to the 1960s assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. King.
The National Archives had earlier released records on JFK’s assassination in March and those related to Robert F. Kennedy’s killing in April.
Naija News understands that King was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. He died in 1998, but questions around the official narrative persist.
In a joint statement, King’s surviving children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, expressed their welcome to transparency but expressed concern about its implications.
They said, “We support transparency and historical accountability. However, we are deeply concerned that the release of these records may be exploited for attacks on our father’s legacy.”
They highlighted that Dr. King was subjected to “an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign” by the FBI under then-director J. Edgar Hoover.
The statement further stated, “These actions were not only invasions of privacy but intentional assaults on the truth. The FBI campaign was intended to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement.”
They urged the public and media to approach the newly released documents with sensitivity.
“We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief,” the family pleaded.
King’s assassination has long been the subject of alternative theories and scepticism. Although Ray confessed to the murder, King’s children and many historians have maintained that there may have been a broader conspiracy involved.
The U.S. government has also been criticised over the years for its slow and piecemeal release of documents, especially those tied to the JFK and RFK assassinations.
The Warren Commission, which investigated President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination, concluded that former Marine sharpshooter Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Yet, this conclusion has not stemmed widespread speculation of a larger plot.
Similarly, Robert F. Kennedy, then a presidential hopeful and former attorney general, was gunned down in 1968. Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian-born Jordanian, was convicted and is currently serving a life sentence in California.
The post Trump Administration Releases Martin Luther King Jr Assassination Files appeared first on Naija News.