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The Trump administration on Monday released more than 240,000 pages of FBI records detailing the U.S. government’s surveillance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., despite opposition from the King family and key civil rights organizations.
The documents, which had been under seal since 1977, provide an expansive — and at times disturbing — look into the FBI’s campaign to monitor, discredit, and undermine King in the years leading up to his assassination in 1968. Digitized for the first time and now available through the National Archives, the records include FBI memos, surveillance summaries, and correspondence with other federal agencies, including the CIA.
“He was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign,” said Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, in a joint statement. “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.”
The pair, the youngest and eldest of King’s surviving children, criticized the release’s timing and intent, noting it came amid “renewed public curiosity” about their father’s assassination — and under a cloud of political controversy surrounding former President Donald Trump’s broader declassification efforts.
Historical Record or Political Diversion?
Trump had promised during his campaign to declassify files related to historic political assassinations, including those of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. His administration previously released JFK documents in March and some RFK records in April.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard praised the MLK release as “unprecedented transparency,” and Alveda King, King’s niece and a conservative Trump ally, echoed the praise, thanking Trump for following through.
But critics say the release served as a strategic distraction from mounting backlash over Trump’s handling of sealed records from the Jeffrey Epstein case. Rev. Al Sharpton was blunt:
“Trump releasing the MLK assassination files is not about transparency or justice. 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.”
Files Detail Hoover’s Obsession with King
The records add to the long-documented narrative of then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s hostility toward King. The FBI wiretapped King’s phones, bugged his hotel rooms, and planted informants to document both his political activities and personal life.
Earlier releases have revealed the FBI’s efforts to coerce King into suicide, including a now-infamous anonymous letter sent to him weeks before he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
The new documents also delve into how King’s increasing focus on economic justice and opposition to the Vietnam War sparked surveillance across multiple federal agencies. A CIA memo included in the release flagged King’s “leftist” alliances and warned of his “growing global influence.”
King Family Still Disputes Official Assassination Story
The King family reiterated its long-held belief that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of murdering King, did not act alone — or possibly at all.
Ray pleaded guilty in 1969 but later recanted. A 1999 civil jury sided with the King family, finding King was killed as part of a wider conspiracy, though the Justice Department has never accepted that conclusion.
“As we review these newly released files,” Bernice and Martin III wrote, “we will assess whether they offer additional insights beyond the findings our family has already accepted.”
Reaction from Civil Rights Groups and Historians
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) — which King co-founded — opposed the release, arguing that the files were the product of illegal surveillance and should not be made public in this manner.
The King Center, led by Bernice King, issued a separate statement, warning the disclosure distracts from today’s civil rights battles.
“It is unfortunate and ill-timed, given the myriad of pressing issues and injustices affecting the United States and the global society,” the Center said. “This righteous work should be our collective response to renewed attention on the assassination of a great purveyor of true peace.”
A Trove for Researchers, But a Heavy Toll for the Family
While historians and journalists are already poring over the files for new insights, the King family continues to carry the emotional burden of their father’s assassination.
“His tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met,” the King siblings said. “We support transparency and historical accountability, but object to any attacks on our father’s legacy or attempts to weaponize it.”
King was 39 years old when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.
The full impact of the document release — both historically and politically — remains to be seen. But what is certain is that the controversy surrounding King’s death, and the FBI’s shadowy role in his life, is far from settled.
