The U.S. Department of Justice released FBI documents related to Martin Luther King, a leader against racial discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Justice has released documents related to the civil rights activist.
This collection includes about 240,000 pages, which contain notes from the FBI, the federal police agency that had Martin Luther King under surveillance.
These documents were handed over to the U.S. National Archives in 1977 and were supposed to remain confidential until 2027.
King’s family was informed in advance about the release of the documents but criticized the decision.
According to Martin Luther King’s family, who was assassinated in 1968, he was the target of a worrying campaign of fake information and surveillance organized by the FBI, which aimed to discredit and weaken him, and question the credibility of the entire American civil rights movement.
King’s family believes these documents should be examined within this historical context.
Martin Luther King was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century in America, who fought to end racial discrimination and achieve equal rights for African Americans in the United States.
Based on previously released documents, during J. Edgar Hoover’s leadership, the FBI wiretapped King’s phone calls, installed listening devices in his hotel rooms, and employed informants to gather evidence against this Baptist minister.
The academic community, media, and history enthusiasts are eager to see if the newly released documents provide any new information about Martin Luther King’s assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis.
In January, President Donald Trump ordered the release of the last confidential documents about the assassination of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and also the documents related to the murder of his brother Robert F. Kennedy.
According to a court order, the documents related to King were also supposed to remain confidential until 2027, but the Department of Justice requested a federal judge to lift this restriction earlier.