Nationwide — The Trump administration has released over 240,000 pages of FBI surveillance records related to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., despite opposition from his family and the civil rights organization he once led. These files, previously sealed by court order since 1977, were made public on Monday by the National Archives, marking what federal officials call an “unprecedented” release. The disclosure comes amid controversy, with critics accusing the move of being politically motivated rather than an act of historical transparency.
According to AP News, King’s surviving children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, responded with a heartfelt statement urging the public to approach the files with care and compassion. They acknowledged that their father’s assassination has long drawn public fascination, but emphasized the personal pain that remains for their family. “This has been a devastating loss for our family for over 57 years,” they wrote. “We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect.”
The newly unsealed documents cover a broad array of FBI intelligence, including tips received after King’s death and records of the CIA’s concerns over his anti-war and anti-poverty activism. It remains unclear whether any of the files contain revelations about the assassination or King’s broader legacy. Nonetheless, the family restated their long-standing belief that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of the murder, was not the sole perpetrator—if he was involved at all.
President Trump had previously ordered the release of classified records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, as well as King’s. While the Trump administration and some allies, like King’s conservative niece Alveda King, praised the release as a gesture of transparency, others saw it as a distraction from recent scrutiny surrounding Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Rev. Al Sharpton criticized the release, calling it “a desperate attempt to divert attention from the Epstein files and the erosion of Trump’s credibility.”
The King Center, founded by Coretta Scott King and now led by Bernice King, issued a separate statement describing the release as untimely, given the urgent civil rights issues still facing the country. “This righteous work should be our collective response,” the Center said, urging the public to focus on King’s mission of peace, justice, and equality. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference also opposed the release, citing the FBI’s illegal surveillance and efforts to discredit the Civil Rights Movement.
The FBI’s harassment of King under J. Edgar Hoover’s leadership is well documented. The bureau wiretapped his phones, bugged his hotel rooms, and attempted to damage his reputation through leaked information, including personal details about alleged affairs. King’s children described the FBI campaign as “an intentional assault on truth and justice,” and warned against using the files to smear their father’s legacy.
Although James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to King’s murder, he later recanted and insisted he had been framed. In 1999, a civil trial brought by the King family concluded that King had been killed as part of a larger conspiracy. While the Justice Department under Janet Reno later found no new evidence to overturn Ray’s conviction, the King family has never accepted that conclusion. As they now review the newly released records, Martin III and Bernice said they would consider whether any new insights emerge that support their family’s longstanding beliefs.
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