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The US National Archives website has released more than 6,000 documents related to the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. You can access it here.
According to The New York Times, the publication was made without warning, amid attempts by the Trump administration to deflect attention from far-right pressure to release files related to the death of Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire accused of sex trafficking and exploitation. He committed suicide in 2019.
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Trump administration officials said the King assassination documents include nearly 250,000 pages, with:
- Notes on tracks investigated.
- Interviews with people who knew the murderer James Earl Ray.
- Unpublished details of interactions with foreign intelligence services during Ray’s search.
- An audio file released includes part of a police interview with Jerry Ray, brother of James Earl Ray.
- Miscellaneous accounts of the investigation and pursuit, incl.
- Hundreds of newspaper clippings.
Despite the revelation, several historians specializing in the life of Martin Luther King, including David Garrow, one of his leading biographers, said they found few new revelations about the civil rights leader’s death in the documents. Many pages are almost unreadable due to time and the scanning process.
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What remains confidential
The collection does not include FBI wiretapping recordings of Martin Luther King, or other materials that remain judicially secret until 2027.
The FBI’s wiretapping and other forms of surveillance were part of an effort to uncover incriminating material about King that the agency hoped to use to sabotage the civil rights movement.
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The tapes and transcripts of this surveillance remain confidential, although summaries and other related materials have been released. Last month, a federal judge denied the Justice Department’s request to release the records two years ahead of schedule.
What the family says
Family members and experts have questioned the veracity of some of the information, especially regarding the more provocative allegations about her love life. Martin Luther King reportedly had a history of extramarital affairs.
According to the family, these details may reflect more official efforts to damage the civil rights leader’s reputation than reality. The family spoke out and urged caution when reading the documents, asking that their father’s contributions to American society be taken into account.
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King’s children, Martin III and Bernice, said in a statement that their father was “the relentless target of an invasive, predatory and deeply disturbing campaign of disinformation and surveillance. We ask that those accessing these files do so with empathy, restraint and respect for our family’s ongoing pain,” they said.
Trump administration officials have contacted King’s family, but it is unclear whether the relatives had the right to request redaction of the released materials. In a statement announcing the release of the documents, the government quoted a niece of King and a Trump supporter who praised the transparency:
The declassification and release of these documents is a historic step toward the truth the American people deserve.
King Alveda
