Trump Administration Declassifies Martin Luther King Documents Despite Relatives' Protests
The administration of US President Donald Trump has released a massive documents related to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.. Among them are FBI materials on surveillance of the civil rights activist, writes Air force.
Photp: William Howard | Dreamstime.com
A court injunction has kept the 230 pages of documents off-limits since 1977.
Members of King's family have opposed their release. A statement from his two surviving children condemned "any attempt to use these documents in a way that would undermine our father's legacy."
King, a Baptist pastor, was shot to death in Memphis on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39. James Earl Ray, a career criminal, pleaded guilty to the murder but later recanted.
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King's two surviving children, Martin III and Bernice, who were notified in advance of the publication, said on July 21:
“We urge those who read these materials to do so with compassion, restraint and respect for our loss.
The publication of these materials must be taken in their full historical context.
During his lifetime, our father was subjected to relentless surveillance, slander, and psychological persecution as part of an intrusive, predatory disinformation campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
The statement also said the government surveillance had deprived King of "the dignity and freedoms enjoyed by private citizens."
The family cited, among other things, a jury's decision in a 1999 wrongful death lawsuit that alleged the civil rights activist was the victim not of a lone racist but of a vast conspiracy.
In January, Trump ordered the declassification of documents on the assassinations of King and former President John F. Kennedy, as well as materials on the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
On July 21, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said in a press release that the King case materials "have been gathering dust in various federal departments' files for decades until today."
According to the DNI statement, the documents released include "internal FBI memos" and "previously unreleased CIA materials" related to the search for King's killer.
The release was coordinated with the FBI, the Justice Department, the National Archives and the CIA.
“The American people deserve answers decades after the horrific murder of one of our nation’s greatest leaders,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
However, not all of King's family was unhappy with the publication.
Calling the civil rights leader her uncle, Alveda King said, "I am grateful to President Trump and Director of National Intelligence Gabbard for following through on their promise of transparency. While we continue to mourn his death, the declassification and release of these documents is a historic step toward the truth the American people deserve."
Trump's critics noted that the release of the documents coincided with accusations that his administration had been insufficiently transparent about material related to powerful sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose death in prison in 2019 was ruled a suicide.
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Civil rights activist Al Sharpton said the release of the King documents was a "desperate attempt to distract" from "the scandal brewing around Trump over the Epstein materials and the public collapse of his reputation."
Before his arrest, James Earl Ray, who was convicted of King's murder, fled abroad - to Canada, Portugal and Great Britain, where he robbed a bank.
Extradited to Memphis in 1969, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Ray later claimed he had been framed by unknown conspirators and tried to recant his plea, but courts repeatedly rejected his requests. He died in 1998 at the age of 70.
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