WASHINGTON — On July 21, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced on X that the U.S. government had released 230,000 files related to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Today, after nearly 60 years of questions surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are releasing 230,000 MLK assassination files, available now at http://archives.gov/mlk,” Gabbard wrote.
In the same post, Gabbard praised Donald Trump, stating, “Thanks to President @realDonaldTrump’s leadership, Executive Order 14176 resulted in three, unprecedented interagency efforts to identify, digitize, declassify and release files related to the federal government’s investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. King.”
Public reaction to the announcement on social media was divided, with some applauding the move and others calling it a distraction.
According to BBC News, civil rights leader Al Sharpton called the disclosure “a desperate attempt to distract” from controversy surrounding Trump, including renewed scrutiny over Jeffrey Epstein-related documents and questions about Trump’s credibility.
The National Archives stated its role in the release: “The National Archives is working with other federal agencies to review and release records related to the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Records relating to the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be added to this web page on a rolling basis as they are released.”
The King Center later shared a statement from Dr. King’s family responding to the disclosure. “As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met — an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,” the statement read.
“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 urged the public to approach the documents with caution. “The release of these files must be viewed within their full historical context,” the statement said. “During our father’s lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”
“The intent of the government’s COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement,” the statement continued.
PBS describes COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) as a covert FBI program that operated from 1956 to 1971 to investigate what it deemed “radical” political groups. “The Black Panther Party was specifically targeted and bore the brunt of the most damage,” PBS reported.
The King family emphasized the harm caused by these actions. “These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth — undermining the dignity and freedoms of private citizens who fought for justice, designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo.”
“Those who promote the fruit of the FBI’s surveillance will unknowingly align themselves with an ongoing campaign to degrade our father and the Civil Rights Movement,” the family added.
They concluded by encouraging the public to honor King’s legacy through action. “Instead of repeating the injustices of the past, we encourage the public to continue the work that our father began — building equity, justice, and peace for all.”
The Guardian also reported on the release, noting, “The Trump administration has released records of the FBI’s surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr., despite opposition from the slain Nobel laureate’s family and the civil rights group that he led until his 1968 assassination.”
