Six months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order to make public secret government files on the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard delivered the first wave of documents.
On Jan. 23, Trump issued an executive order calling for the release of documents related to the 1968 assassinations of King and RFK and the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, saying, “the American people deserve transparency and truth. It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.”
On Monday, Gabbard released 230,000 pages of documents related to King’s 1968 assassination in Memphis, according to a news release on Gabbard’s website.
“The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government’s investigation into Dr. King’s assassination,” Gabbard said.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, 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. I extend my deepest appreciation to the King family for their support,” she said.
The release said the files made public “had never been digitized and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades.”
The documents include FBI records about the assassination and documents concerning James Earl Ray, who was convicted of killing King.
“I am grateful to President Trump and DNI Gabbard for delivering on their pledge of transparency in the release of these documents on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr,” Alveda King, a niece of the slain civil rights leader, said.
“My uncle lived boldly in pursuit of truth and justice, and his enduring legacy of faith continues to inspire Americans to this day. While we continue to mourn his death, the declassification and release of these documents are a historic step towards the truth that the American people deserve,” she said.
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King’s children, Bernice and Martin Luther King III, on Monday issued a statement opposing the release.
“We recognize that the release of documents concerning the assassination of our father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has long been a subject of interest, captivating public curiosity for decades,” the statement posted on X said.
“As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met — an absence our family has endured for over 57 years. 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 statement said.
The statement noted that the FBI had an ax to grind with King throughout his career.
“The release of these files must be viewed within their full historical context. During our father’s lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the statement said.
“The intent of the government’s COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement,” the statement said.
The statement noted that a 1999 civil wrongful death lawsuit ended with a Shelby County, Tennessee, jury finding that “our father was the victim of a conspiracy” that involved multiple individuals and government agencies.
“The verdict also affirmed that someone other than James Earl Ray was the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. Our family views that verdict as an affirmation of our long-held beliefs,” the statement said.
King’s children said they “condemn any attempts to misuse these documents in ways intended to undermine our father’s legacy and the significant achievements of the movement. Those who promote the fruit of the FBI’s surveillance will unknowingly align themselves with an ongoing campaign to degrade our father and the Civil Rights Movement.”
The files Gabbard released are available online through the National Archives.
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