The Trump administration on Monday released over 240,000 pages of long-sealed FBI files targeting MLK Jr. assassination, offering the public a massive trove of raw intelligence, secret memos, and investigative files spanning decades.
The documents, most of which had been kept under a court-imposed seal since 1977, were made publicly available by the National Archives following President Donald Trump’s executive order. The release, praised by some as a step toward transparency, was sharply criticized by Dr. King’s children and civil rights organizations as an insensitive act that risks distorting history and exploiting trauma.
Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, the two surviving children of the late civil rights icon, issued a somber statement addressing the release. Now in their 60s, both children underscored the enduring personal pain of their father’s assassination and urged the public to approach the files with empathy and restraint.
“As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met,” the statement read. “We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief.”
Though given early access to the documents, the King family emphasized their concern that the materials could be misused or misrepresented. Their longstanding position remains that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of King’s assassination, may not have acted alone — or at all.
Among the documents are records detailing how the FBI closely tracked King’s growing influence, particularly his pivot in the mid-1960s from civil rights advocacy to opposition to the Vietnam War and calls for economic justice. Declassified memos describe the bureau’s growing paranoia over King’s international appeal and what then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover believed was a “radical” agenda.
These surveillance efforts were anything but passive. The files confirm widespread wiretaps, bugging of hotel rooms, informant networks, and smear campaigns — including covert attempts to expose King’s extramarital affairs in order to undermine his leadership.
“He was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” said the King siblings. “The intent was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement.”
The decision to unseal the files was hailed by Trump allies and conservative figures as a bold move toward transparency. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, appointed during Trump’s presidency, called the release “unprecedented” and commended the effort to digitize and make public such a large volume of material.
Trump had pledged during his first campaign to declassify government files related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. His administration had already made public JFK records in March and a portion of RFK files in April.
King’s niece, Alveda King — a vocal Trump supporter — praised the move. “I’m grateful to President Trump for his transparency,” she said, appearing in a photo alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi on social media. Her statement, however, highlighted the ideological divide within the King family. Bernice and Martin Luther King III made no mention of Trump in their statement.
Not everyone saw transparency as the primary motivation. Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton sharply criticized the timing and intent of the release.
“Trump releasing the MLK assassination files is not about transparency or justice,” Sharpton said. “It’s a desperate attempt to distract people from the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files and the public unraveling of his credibility among the MAGA base.”
The King Center — the Atlanta-based non-profit founded by Coretta Scott King and now run by Bernice King — also condemned the release as opportunistic. “It is unfortunate and ill-timed, given the myriad of pressing issues and injustices affecting the United States and the global society,” the statement said.
Originally intended to remain sealed until 2027, the FBI’s files were released early after a request from the Justice Department. Scholars, researchers, and journalists are now combing through the documents to determine whether they offer new insight into King’s assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, co-founded by King in 1957, had also opposed the release. The organization noted the FBI’s history of illegally surveilling King and other civil rights leaders in efforts to undermine their credibility.
Though James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in 1969, he later recanted and maintained his innocence until his death in 1998. In 1999, a Memphis jury in a civil trial concluded that King’s death resulted from a conspiracy involving government agencies — a verdict that reinforced the family’s skepticism of the official account.
“As we review these newly released files,” Martin III and Bernice said, “we will assess whether they offer additional insights beyond the findings our family has already accepted.”