Things to know about the release of federal documents related to MLK’s assassination

MEMPHIS Tenn AP Federal records related to the research into the assassination of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr were circulated on Monday following the disclosure in March of tens of thousands of documents about the assassination of President John F Kennedy In January President Donald Trump ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about Kennedy s assassination while also moving to declassify federal records related to the deaths of New York Sen Robert F Kennedy and King more than five decades ago Trump ordered Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Attorney General Pam Bondi to coordinate with other executive bureaucrats to review records related to the assassinations of RFK and King and present a plan to the president for their complete release Selected pages of records about the RFK assassination were distributed April Justice Department attorneys later required a federal judge to end a sealing order for the records nearly two years ahead of its expiration date The Southern Christian Leadership Conference which King led is opposed to unsealing any of the records for privacy reasons The organization s lawyers noted King s relatives also desired to keep the files under seal Scholars history buffs and journalists have been preparing to analysis the documents to find new information about the civil rights leader s assassination on April in Memphis Tennessee The King family s comment issued after Trump s order in January declared they hoped to get an opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its residents release King s family including his two living children Martin III and Bernice was given advance notice of the release and had their own teams reviewing the records ahead of the population disclosure In a comment published Monday King s children called their father s matter a captivating populace curiosity for decades But they also emphasized the personal nature of the matter and urged that these files must be viewed within their full historical context 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 report stated Here is what we know about the assassination and what scholars had to say ahead of the release of the documents In Memphis shots ring out King was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel heading to dinner with a meager friends when he was shot and killed King had been in Memphis to advocacy a sanitation workers strike protesting poor working conditions and low pay The night before the assassination King delivered the famous Mountaintop speech on a stormy night at the Mason Temple in Memphis An earlier march on Beale Street had turned violent and King had returned to Memphis to lead another march as an expression of nonviolent protest King also had been planning the Poor People s Campaign to speak out against economic injustice The FBI s inquiry After a long manhunt James Earl Ray was captured in London and he pleaded guilty to assassinating King He later renounced that plea and maintained his innocence until his death in FBI documents circulated over the years show how the bureau wiretapped King s telephone lines bugged his hotel rooms and used informants to get information against him He was relentlessly targeted by an invasive predatory and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign the King family report explained King family s response to the probe Members of King s family and others have questioned whether Ray acted alone or if he was even involved King s widow Coretta Scott King questioned for the probe to be reopened and in then-Attorney General Janet Reno directed the Civil Rights Division of the U S Justice Department to do so The Justice Department noted it unveiled nothing to disturb the judicial determination that James Earl Ray murdered Dr King Dexter King one of King s children met with Ray in prison in saying afterwards that he concluded Ray s suggests of innocence Dexter King died in With the advocacy of King s family a civil trial in state court was held in Memphis in against Loyd Jowers a man alleged to have known about a conspiracy to assassinate King Dozens of observers testified and a Memphis jury exposed Jowers and unnamed others including cabinet agencies participated in a conspiracy to assassinate King What will the society see in the newly distributed documents It s not clear what the records will literally show King scholars for example would like to see what information the FBI was discussing and circulating as part of their examination mentioned Ryan Jones director of history interpretation and curatorial services at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis That s critical given the fact the American inhabitants at that time was unaware that the FBI that is involved in the inspection was leading a smear campaign to discredit the same man while he was alive Jones reported They were the same bureau who was receiving notices of assassination attempts against King and ignored them Academics who have studied King also would like to see information about the FBI s surveillance of King including the extent they went to get details about his personal life track him and try to discredit him as anti-American noted Lerone A Martin director of the Martin Luther King Jr Research and Training Institute at Stanford University However Martin announced he does not expect that the documents will have a smoking gun that will certainly say See this is evidence that the FBI was involved in this assassination We have to view these documents with an eye of suspicion because of the extent the FBI was willing to go to to try to discredit him Martin disclosed Why now Trump s order about the records release noted it is in the national interest to release the records Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth the order declared However the timing has led to skepticism from various observers Jones questioned why the American population had not been able to see these documents much earlier Why were they sealed on the basis of national defense if the assassin was in prison outside of Nashville he revealed Jones announced there are scholars who think the records release is a PR stunt by a presidential administration that is rewriting omitting the advances of a few people that are tied to people of color or diversity The Pentagon has faced questions from lawmakers and citizens over the removal of military heroes and historic mentions from Defense Department websites and social media pages after it purged online content that promoted women or minorities In response the department restored a few of those posts Martin mentioned Trump s motivation could be part of an effort to shed doubt on executive institutions It could be an opportunity for the Trump administration to say See the FBI is evil I ve been trying to tell you this This is why I ve put FBI director Kash Patel in office because he s cleaning out the Deep State Martin declared Another factor could be the two attempts on Trump s life as he was campaigning for a second presidential term and a desire to expose the broader history of U S assassinations commented Brian Kwoba an associate history professor at the University of Memphis That stated it is still a little bit confusing because it s not clear why any U S president including Trump would want to open up files that could be damaging to the United States and its image both in the U S and abroad he revealed Source