Trump Administration Releases Martin Luther King Jr. Files
Trump Administration Releases Martin Luther King Jr. Files Against Family Wishes
Against the wishes of the family of Martin Luther King Jr., the administration of President Donald Trump made good on releasing several documents related to the civil rights leader’s assassination. According to experts, little was revealed in a flurry of documents, and it isn’t known what President Trump’s end game is here.
The National Archives created a segment for President Trump’s Executive Order 14176, Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which he issued in January of this year.
Back in April, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced the release of the records, although the aim of doing so has never been particularly stated beyond the adminstration wantng this information out among the public. Considering President Kennedy’s political affiliation and King’s legacy in regards to civil and voting rights, the move raises more questions.
The New York Times reports that historians combed through the more than 6,000 documents but found nothing resembling a bombshell revelation. In addition, the newly released documents do not contain the hours of recorded wiretap conversations that the FBI orchestrated at the height of King’s activism momentum.
The family of Martin Luther King Jr. issued a statement on social media decrying the move as a means to discredit the leader’s legacy and historical impact.
A portion of the statement can be read below:
“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. 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 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 (FBI). 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. These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth – undermining the dignity and freedoms of private citizens who fought for justice, designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo.
In a cheeky post on X following the statement, Bernice King shared an image of her father with the caption “Now, do the Epstein files.”
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Photo: Getty
