US releases thousands of Martin Luther King Jr. files
(VOVWORLD) - US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday made public more than 230,000 pages of documents related to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most influential human rights activists in American history.
 At the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial before of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, in Washington, US, January 16, 2025. (File photo: REUTERS/Marko Djurica) |
The documents were released under an executive order by US President Donald Trump and include details of the FBI's investigation into the case.
However, several noted historians of Dr. King said they found little in the way of new revelations about the civil rights leader's death in the documents, and pointed out that the trove does not include FBI wiretap recordings of Dr. King or other materials that remain under court seal until 2027.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929 and is remembered as a compassionate leader with extraordinary moral influence. In 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance against racial discrimination in the US. He is regarded as one of the most influential ideologists in American history. King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder and died in prison in 1998.