Trump to release files on MLK Jr.’s assassination. Here’s what to expect.
Signed by President Trump executive order Declassify any remaining documents related to the assassination Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.by James Earl Ray. The news came on Thursday, January 23, just days after Trump made his announcement. inauguration ceremony.
When he signs the order – it will also lead to the release of documents related to the assassination President John F. Kennedy Robert F. Kennedy and King – Trump called it “a big deal” and said “a lot of people have been waiting for this for a long time – years, decades.”
Mr. Trump ordered the director of national intelligence and the attorney general to develop a plan within 45 days to release all Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. documents. They had just 15 days to come up with a plan to release the Kennedy files within 15 days, even though the president’s nominations for both positions had not yet been confirmed by the Senate.
this Civil rights icons assassinated in memphis April 4, 1968as he stood on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel. According to CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite’s report that day, 39-year-old King was rushed to the hospital and died after being shot in the neck.
Why did Trump release the assassination files of Martin Luther King Jr.?
Mr Trump said at a conference assembly Speaking in Washington, D.C., on the eve of his inauguration, he said he would release the documents to demonstrate a return to “transparency and accountability in government.”
He said his administration will “reverse the excessive secrecy of government documents, and in the coming days we will release the remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King.” , Jr. and other topics of public interest.”
What do we know about the assassination of MLK Jr.?
Ray, a repeat offender with a previous robbery conviction, had been on the run for 11 months after serving a 20-year sentence in a Missouri prison.
On the afternoon of April 4, 1968, Ray rented a room under an assumed name at a Memphis rental house near the Lorraine Motel. He was indicted in early May, and an international manhunt ensued. On June 8, 1968, Ray was arrested at London Heathrow Airport. He was extradited to the United States the following month, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Charles Kelly/AP
However, there were accusations that the FBI was also involved in King’s assassination, so a special committee conducted its own investigation. this national archives noted that the committee “recognized that FBI documents may have been contaminated” but never found evidence of any complicity by the bureau. However, the committee “did note significant flaws in the scope and methodology of the FBI’s post-assassination investigation,” the filing said.
The FBI monitored King for years and conducted a counterintelligence program called COINTELPRO against him. The dossier states that a Senate select committee investigated and issued a report exposing “the full extent of the FBI’s efforts to discredit Dr. King.”
The Justice Department established a task force to investigate the FBI’s harassment and investigation of King, as well as the assassination and criminal investigation into him. It was also assigned to determine whether these FBI efforts might have had an impact on King’s assassination. The task force ultimately concluded that Wray cooperated with the operation, but also found that the FBI’s operation involving COINTELPRO’s sabotage of King should not have continued and was “probably… a felony.”
What assassination files on MLK Jr. have been released?
this National Archives website Contains information from the Special Committee’s investigation of King’s assassination, including its handling of Wray and the FBI’s surveillance of King, as well as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.
What files on the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination will Trump release?
White House officials have not yet specified which assassination files will be released.
When will the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination files be released?
A release date has yet to be announced. It’s unclear whether all the material, particularly the transcripts and tapes of the FBI wiretap on King, can be released. In 1977, a federal judge order the fbi. The material was handed over to the archives and ordered sealed for 50 years. The documents will not be made public until February 2027. The judge barred the documents from being disclosed except with a court order.
contributed to this report.
