King Family Declares FBI Release of MLK Assassination Files a Breach of Privacy

In a move that has unsettled the descendants of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other prominent civil rights figures, President Donald Trump authorized the release of over 240,000 pages of FBI documents concerning Dr. King’s 1968 assassination. Harrison Fields, Trump’s Deputy Press Secretary, remarked, “The emphasis here is to give Americans the truth.” In January, Trump signed Executive Order 14176, aimed at declassifying records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and Dr. King, whose files have remained confidential since 1977. Dr. King’s surviving children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, expressed their disapproval, believing that their father's assassination files should remain sealed due to their personal nature. Al Sharpton, a longtime ally of the King family, criticized the timing, suggesting it serves to distract from controversies around Trump and the Epstein files. The King family has called for context when viewing these documents, noting the extensive surveillance and disinformation they believe plagued Dr. King’s legacy.