Trump administration releases MLK files despite family concerns

English , International - بین الاقوامی , Snippets , / Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025

Download this post as PDF

rki.news
WASHINGTON, July 21 – The Trump administration has released over 230,000 pages of documents related to the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., despite strong objections from King’s surviving family members and civil rights organizations.
The release was announced by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, following President Donald Trump’s January directive to make public all remaining records on the assassinations of Dr. King, President John F. Kennedy, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
The newly digitized files include FBI surveillance documents, internal memos, and accounts from James Earl Ray’s former cellmate suggesting knowledge of a possible assassination plot. Additional documents include Canadian police reports and CIA files that tracked Ray’s movements internationally.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the release reflects a commitment to transparency, noting, “The American people deserve answers decades after the tragic loss of one of our greatest leaders.”
However, Dr. King’s children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice A. King, expressed deep concern over the timing and content of the release. “We support historical accountability, but we object to any attempt to tarnish our father’s legacy or exploit these records for political purposes,” they said in a joint statement.
The King family emphasized their long-standing pain over how the FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover, conducted invasive surveillance and attempted to discredit Dr. King during his lifetime.
Officials said the family was offered access to the documents two weeks prior to the public release. Still, they urged the public to approach the files with empathy and care.
The full collection is available on the U.S. National Archives website, providing researchers and the public with centralized access to one of the most sensitive chapters in American civil rights history.