WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. government has declassified more than 230,000 pages of documents related to the 1968 assassination of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., marking a significant step toward transparency in one of the nation’s most scrutinized tragedies.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced the release on Monday, saying it fulfills a long-standing demand for full disclosure about the federal government’s investigation into King’s murder.
“The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government’s investigation into Dr. King’s assassination,” Gabbard said in a statement. “We are ensuring that no stone is left unturned.”
The documents, released with minimal redactions for privacy reasons, are part of a broader effort initiated by President Donald Trump to declassify records related to major political assassinations in the 1960s, including those of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy.
King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, but later recanted and claimed he was set up. He died in prison in 1998. Despite the conviction, members of the King family have long questioned Ray’s role in the assassination.
In a joint statement, King’s surviving children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, expressed mixed feelings about the release.
While supporting “transparency and historical accountability,” they warned that the files could be misused to damage their father’s legacy.
They cited the FBI’s infamous surveillance and disinformation campaign under Director J. Edgar Hoover as a key concern.
“These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth,” they said.
The FBI’s covert efforts to undermine King — including smear campaigns and secret recordings — have been widely documented in previous disclosures and congressional hearings.
“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 family said.
The release of the King files follows earlier declassifications of records tied to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the 1968 killing of Robert F. Kennedy, both of which continue to fuel conspiracy theories decades later.
The newly released King documents are now available via the National Archives.
