Trump administration to release Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination files, King family objects

ISTANBUL

Documents related to the 1968 assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., as well as Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, will be released "within the next few days," according to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Gabbard made the announcement during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump, who had ordered the declassification of thousands of files tied to the high-profile killings as part of a broader push for government transparency. Last month, the Trump administration also released new documents regarding the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

At the meeting, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was a teenager when his father was assassinated in June 1968, expressed appreciation for the move, saying he was “gratified” and “grateful” for the upcoming release. The Kennedy family has requested a private review of the documents prior to their public disclosure.

Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 39 years old. Although James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the assassination and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, questions and conspiracy theories surrounding the case persist.

The planned release, however, is facing strong opposition from King’s family and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)—the civil rights organization King co-founded. The SCLC filed a petition last week seeking to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive FBI files, including surveillance tapes, until at least January 2027, in line with a 1977 court ruling.

The SCLC and King family argue Trump’s attempt to unseal the files is "without legal justification," claiming he "lacks the authority" under a court-ordered seal, and believe early disclosure would harm "the interests of SCLC, the King family, and the public" due to privacy concerns.

Martin Luther King III stated the wiretaps aimed to discredit his father and "harm the civil rights cause that he championed," adding that "some, perhaps many, of the recordings may be fake."

Bernice King argued releasing the files would cause "irreparable harm" to her father’s legacy due to "fabricated assertions and disinformation" from then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, while her brother warned it would "unleash J. Edgar Hoover's deception on the public."

A Justice Department task force investigated the FBI's harassment of King and his assassination. While it concluded James Earl Ray acted alone, it criticized the FBI's COINTELPRO actions as "very probably...felonious."