In a significant move, the Trump administration has unsealed a large volume of records related to the assassination of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. These documents, which contain FBI surveillance files, consist of over 230,000 pages that had been legally restricted from public access since 1977. The decision faced pushback from King’s living children, Martin III and Bernice, who expressed their concerns about the potential misuse of the information. They urged the public to approach the newly released documents with "empathy, restraint, and respect," highlighting the emotional weight of their father's legacy.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at the young age of 39, with James Earl Ray eventually pleading guilty to the crime, although he later recanted his confession. In their statement, King's children condemned the historical FBI surveillance as a severe invasion of privacy and an attack on their father's dignity. During his campaign, Trump had pledged to release documents related to the assassinations of both Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, ultimately signing an executive order in January for their declassification.
