US Releases Martin Luther King Assassination Files
(MENAFN) The administration led by U.S. President Donald Trump has made public a vast collection of official documents concerning the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the renowned civil rights leader.
On Monday, approximately 240,000 pages were uploaded to the website of the National Archives, which has pledged to release additional files in the future.
Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray, known for his support of racial segregation, admitted to the crime but later withdrew his confession.
He remained incarcerated until his death in 1998.
According to National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, the newly disclosed files include Federal Bureau of Investigation memos, investigative leads, details about Ray’s former prison cellmate, and international intelligence collected during the pursuit after Ray fled to the United Kingdom. Initial examinations of the material have not uncovered fresh insights into the FBI’s surveillance of King or potential connections to Ray.
A number of scholars — along with members of King’s family — continue to suspect a broader conspiracy behind the killing and argue that Ray may have been unjustly accused.
King’s children, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, were granted early access to the files but expressed disapproval of their release.
They feared the documents might contain information that could tarnish their father’s memory.
Whether the newly published material sheds light on King’s private life is still uncertain.
In a message posted on X, the siblings appealed to the public to interpret the documents within “their full historical context,” emphasizing that the assassination represents a profoundly personal tragedy for their family.
“We support transparency and historical accountability, but oppose any attacks on our father’s legacy or efforts to weaponize it with falsehoods,” they stated, also noting their intent to examine the records in order to determine if Ray was genuinely culpable.
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