Important Details About the Release of Federal Papers Related to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death

On Monday, the United States government released official papers related to the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This happened after thousands of documents about the killing of President John F. Kennedy were shared with the public in March.

In January, former President Donald Trump ordered that many secret government files related to Kennedy’s murder should be shared. Along with that, he also decided to make public the documents connected to the deaths of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These events happened more than 50 years ago.

Trump instructed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Attorney General Pam Bondi to work together with other government departments. Their goal was to look at the papers about the deaths of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and create a plan to make them fully public. About 10,000 pages of documents about Robert Kennedy’s murder were already released on April 18.

Later, lawyers from the Justice Department asked a judge to end the order that kept the King documents secret. This was done almost two years before the secrecy was set to expire. However, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization that Dr. King led, opposed making the documents public. Their lawyers said that Dr. King’s family wanted to keep the files private for personal reasons.

At the same time, historians, reporters, and civil rights experts had been getting ready to read the documents carefully. They hoped to find new facts or details about the tragic murder of Martin Luther King Jr., which happened on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

King Family’s Thoughts

After President Trump made his order in January, Dr. King’s family released a statement. They said they hoped to get a chance to read the files as a family before they were made public. Dr. King’s children — Martin Luther King III and Bernice King — were given early access to the documents and had their own people looking through them before they were shared with the public.

In a new statement given on Monday, Dr. King’s children said that the case had been interesting to the public for many years. But they also asked people to remember that this is still a very personal and emotional matter for their family. They said that people reading the documents should do so with kindness, care, and understanding.

What Happened in Memphis?

On the day he was killed, Dr. King was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He was about to go to dinner with friends when a gunshot ended his life.

He had come to Memphis to support a strike by garbage workers. The workers were asking for better pay and working conditions. Just one night before he was killed, Dr. King gave one of his most famous speeches — known as the “Mountaintop Speech” — in a Memphis church during a thunderstorm. Before this, a peaceful march on Beale Street had turned violent. So Dr. King came back to lead another peaceful protest. He was also planning a national campaign called the Poor People’s Campaign to speak out against poverty and unfair economic systems.

The FBI’s Role in the Investigation

After the shooting, police searched for the killer and finally caught a man named James Earl Ray in London. Ray later said in court that he killed Dr. King, but afterward, he changed his story and said he was not guilty. He kept saying he was innocent until he died in 1998.

Old government files show that the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) had been watching Dr. King closely. They had tapped his phone lines, listened in on his hotel rooms, and used secret people (informants) to collect private information about him.

The King family said this was a mean and aggressive campaign to harm Dr. King’s image. They said it was a plan to spy on him and spread lies about him while he was still alive.

The King Family’s Doubts

For many years, Dr. King’s family and others have wondered if James Earl Ray really acted alone — or if he even did it at all.

Dr. King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, asked the government to investigate again. In 1998, Attorney General Janet Reno told the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department to reopen the case. But the department later said they found no new evidence to change the original court decision from 1969, which said James Earl Ray was the killer.

In 1997, Dr. King’s son Dexter King met James Earl Ray in jail. Afterward, Dexter said he believed Ray when he said he was innocent. Dexter King passed away in 2024.

In 1999, a civil trial was held in Memphis. The case was against Loyd Jowers, a man who said he knew about a plot to kill King. Many people testified, and the jury decided that Jowers and unknown people, including some government agencies, had played a part in the murder.

What’s in the New Documents?

It is still not clear what the new files actually say.

Historians like Ryan Jones, who works at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, said they want to see what the FBI knew and talked about during the investigation.

He said it’s important because at that time, the public did not know that the FBI was secretly trying to ruin King’s image, even while they were supposed to be protecting him. Jones said the FBI even received warnings about possible attacks on King — but did nothing to stop them.

Another expert, Lerone A. Martin, who leads the Martin Luther King Jr. Research Institute at Stanford University, said he wants to see how far the FBI went to gather private details about Dr. King’s life. He said the FBI tried to label him as “anti-American.”

But Martin also said he does not believe the documents will show any strong or clear proof that the FBI helped in the murder. He advised that we must read these documents carefully and with doubt, since the FBI at that time was trying to destroy King’s reputation.

Why Were the Files Released Now?

Trump’s order said it was important for the country to be open and honest, and that families and the public deserve to know the truth.

But some people are not sure about the timing. Ryan Jones asked why these files had been kept secret for so long — especially since the killer was already in prison.

He also said some people believe this release is just a publicity move by the government — a way to change or ignore the achievements of important Black leaders and minority groups.

Recently, the Pentagon (military leadership) has been asked tough questions about why it removed mentions of female and minority heroes from its websites. After facing criticism, some of those mentions were restored. Martin said Trump might be trying to show that the FBI is bad, and that’s why he put people like Kash Patel in top positions — to clean up what he calls the “Deep State.”

Some also think this may have something to do with the fact that Trump survived two attacks during his campaign for a second term. It could be an effort to show how violence and political killings have happened in American history.

Even so, Brian Kwoba, a professor at the University of Memphis, said it’s still unclear why any president would release files that could make the United States look bad, both at home and in other countries.