
Things to know about the release of federal documents related to MLK's assassination
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 government officials to review records related to the assassinations of RFK and King, and present a plan to the president for their 'complete release.' Some 10,000 pages of records about the RFK assassination were released April 18.
Justice Department attorneys later asked 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 said King's relatives also wanted to keep the files under seal.
Scholars, history buffs and journalists have been preparing to study the documents to find new information about the civil rights leader's assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
The King family's statement released after Trump's order in January said they hoped to get an opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public 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 public disclosure.
In a statement released Monday, King's children called their father's case a 'captivating public 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 statement said.
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 few friends, when he was shot and killed.
King had been in Memphis to support 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 investigation
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 1998.
FBI documents released 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 statement said.
King family's response to the investigation
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, asked for the probe to be reopened, and in 1998, then-Attorney General Janet Reno directed the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department to do so.
The Justice Department said it 'found nothing to disturb the 1969 judicial determination that James Earl Ray murdered Dr. King.'
Dexter King, one of King's children, met with Ray in prison in 1997, saying afterwards that he believed Ray's claims of innocence. Dexter King died in 2024.
With the support of King's family, a civil trial in state court was held in Memphis in 1999 against Loyd Jowers, a man alleged to have known about a conspiracy to assassinate King. Dozens of witnesses testified, and a Memphis jury found Jowers and unnamed others, including government agencies, participated in a conspiracy to assassinate King.
What will the public see in the newly released documents?
It's not clear what the records will actually show.
King scholars, for example, would like to see what information the FBI was discussing and circulating as part of their investigation, said 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 public, at that time, was unaware that the FBI that is involved in the investigation, was leading a smear campaign to discredit the same man while he was alive,' Jones said. '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, said Lerone A. Martin, director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.
However, Martin said he does not expect that the documents will have a 'smoking gun that will finally say, 'See, this is 100% 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 said.
Why now?
Trump's order about the records release said it is in the 'national interest' to release the records.
'Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth,' the order said.
However, the timing has led to skepticism from some observers.
Jones questioned why the American public had not been able to see these documents much earlier.
'Why were they sealed on the basis of national security, if the assassin was in prison outside of Nashville?' he said.
Jones said there are scholars who think the records release is a 'PR stunt' by a presidential administration that is 'rewriting, omitting the advances of some 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 some of those posts.
Martin said Trump's motivation could be part of an effort to shed doubt on government 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 said.
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,' said Brian Kwoba, an associate history professor at the University of Memphis.
'That said, 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 said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
EXCLUSIVE: NYC shooter fixated on NFL with CTE claims took ‘big hits' in high school, former teammate says
The NYC mass shooter who blamed the NFL for his apparent CTE brain injury did regularly take 'some big hits' on the field that left him 'looking empty,' a former high school teammate told The Independent. Shane Devon Tamura, 27, sprayed bullets from a M4 assault weapon at a Park Avenue office building Monday evening, killing four people including a cop before turning the gun on himself. Police found Tamura's body with a suicide note in his pocket that claimed he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition that has been linked to the head trauma regularly endured by those who participate in contact sports, such as football players. Tobenna Okunna, 28, a onetime defensive end who played with Tamura in high school in Santa Clarita, California, told The Independent that he remembered the player, who was 5'7' and 140 lbs at the time, taking regular blows to the head. 'It's hard to convey, but Shane was really fast, and ran really hard, and he was really small. So, all that speed and energy running into these massive people… I do remember Shane taking some big hits,' Okunna said in a phone call from his home in North Carolina on Tuesday morning. Tamura 'had occasional moments of looking 'empty,' or spaced-out,' Okunna continued. 'We would commiserate about how high school is hard and stuff like that, [so] I just figured that whenever he had that look, he was just lost in thought… He did hit his head a lot, for sure.' Okunna – who went on to play Division 1-A college football at the University of San Diego and now works in the software industry – described the killer as someone who could sometimes appear distracted, almost dazed, but was, all in all, 'a very normal guy, very kind and well-liked by a lot of people.' Okunna said he remembered a period of time in high school during which Tamura's parents were having relationship issues, leading to 'some stress around that in his life.' About seven or eight years ago, another member of the Golden Valley football squad posted an appeal on social media, requesting information about Tamura's whereabouts. 'I do remember people were worried about him, because he did sort of fall off the face of the earth for a few years,' Okunna said. 'I followed Shane on Instagram, he would post sparingly, maybe once a year or so. I knew he was alive and I knew he was doing something, somewhere.' Tamura was a standout running back for the Golden Valley Grizzlies during the 2014-2015 academic year. In 2015, Tamura transferred to Granada Hills Charter School in Los Angeles, where he played his senior year. The gunman, who held a Nevada private investigator's license that expired last year and had lately been working in casino security, had 'a documented mental health history,' New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that Tamura 'appeared to have gone to the wrong floor,' and had in fact intended to attack the offices of the NFL located lower down in the 44-story high-rise. 'We're still going through the suicide note to zero on in the exact reason but at this time it appears as if it's something attached to his belief he experienced CTE from the NFL,' Adams said in an interview. Despite the lofty claim, Tamura never played beyond the high school level. 'Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,' the disjointed note found in Tamura's pocket reportedly read. 'Study my brain please I'm sorry Rick I'm sorry for everything... You can't go against the NFL, they'll squash you.' In 2005, former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Terry Long took his own life by drinking a gallon of antifreeze. It was later discovered that he had been suffering from CTE. In the period leading up to Monday's bloodshed, Tamura was living with his mother and father, Michelle and Terence, in Las Vegas. His older brother, Terence Jr., also played football at Golden Valley HS and is now a petty officer in the U.S. Navy. Cops said Tamura drove his black BMW cross-country to Manhattan, arriving late Monday afternoon, then double-parked and strode into 345 Park Avenue, carrying an assault-style rifle in plain view, shortly before 6:30 p.m. In addition to the NFL offices, the office tower counts investment giant Blackstone, consulting powerhouse KPMG, and Rudin Management, a venerable local real estate firm which also owns the building, among its tenants. Tamura opened fire immediately upon entering the lobby, killing 36-year-old NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who was working off-duty, but in his police uniform, as a security guard. Blackstone identified one of its senior executives, Wesley LePatner, as among the dead. The other victims were identified as Rudin Management associate Julia Hyman, a 2020 Cornell University graduate, and Aland Etienne, a 'beloved' 46-year-old security guard. A fifth person – reportedly an NFL executive – was shot and injured, but survived. Tamura shot himself in the chest with the M4 rifle, authorities said. Investigators searched Tamura's car following the attack, and discovered two cellphones, medication, a loaded Colt Python .357 caliber revolver, and ammunition. Although Tamura had documented psychological issues, he was able to obtain a concealed carry permit in 2022 from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department. That same year, he was taken into custody on a mental health crisis hold; another would occur in 2024, law enforcement sources told ABC News. In June, a tipster at a gun show in Las Vegas notified law enforcement that Tamura had bought a suspiciously large amount of ammunition, along with an aftermarket trigger, the outlet reported. The Las Vegas Metro PD said Tuesday it was assisting the NYPD with its investigation. Tamura, who was arrested in Nevada in 2022 for trespassing, does not have a significant criminal record, authorities said. Public records show his father was a member of the LAPD, which was confirmed later on Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times. According to a department roster reviewed by the outlet, Terence Sr. became an officer in 1967 and worked primarily in the San Fernando Valley, with later stints in the Foothill and Devonshire patrol divisions. Tamura's mom is a licensed vocational nurse, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs, which lists her residence as being in Las Vegas. 'It's very sad, really tragic, and I'm also just sad for the victims and Shane's family also,' Okunna told The Independent. '... It was a real surprise, it's very odd. I don't know what would compel a person to do that.' The NYPD is leading the ongoing investigation, with assistance also coming from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.


The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
White House uses Jet2 meme to promote ICE deportations
The White House has posted a controversial tweet on X using a viral British airline advert meme to seemingly mock migrants being deported. The tweet featured handcuffed undocumented individuals being escorted onto an ICE-contracted flight, captioned with a sarcastic reference to a " Jet2 holiday to deportation." The post sparked widespread outrage among social media users, who condemned it as "disgusting" and "mind blowing." Singer Jess Glynne, whose song is part of the meme, expressed her disgust, stating her music promotes "love, unity, and spreading positivity," not "division or hate." The incident aligns with President Donald Trump 's recent signing of a law allocating significant funds for border enforcement and his pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.


The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
FDA's top vaccine official leaves post after less than four months
The top vaccine official at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Vinay Prasad, has left the federal agency less than four months after being appointed as the head of the division overseeing biological products like blood, vaccines, and cellular and gene therapies, a government spokesperson has said. Prasad, an oncologist and a professor of epidemiology, biostatistics and medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, had previously criticized the FDA. He was a fierce critic of US Covid-19 vaccine and mask mandates and, in the second Trump administration, he was controversially appointed as the director of the FDA's center for biologics evaluation and research in May. 'Dr Prasad did not want to be a distraction to the great work of the FDA in the Trump administration and has decided to return to California and spend more time with his family,' a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Human Services told Reuters in an emailed statement on Tuesday evening. Endpoints News first reported Prasad's departure. The government gave no details about the reason for his departure but he had fierce critics on both sides of the political aisle and the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources, that he had been ousted amid protests by conservative voices, with no response from Prasad to requests for comment. His exit came after a number of unusual regulatory actions, including those taken recently by the agency on Sarepta Therapeutics' gene therapy, Elevidys. 'Unprecedentedly, there were multiple press leaks from the FDA, negatively impacting [the drug's] credibility,' said Kostas Bilouris, BMO Capital Markets analyst. During Prasad's short stint in post, the FDA limited the use of Covid-19 vaccines and declined to approve therapies from biotech companies Replimune, which sought the green light for a treatment for advanced melanomas, and Capricor Therapeutics' treatment for a form of muscular dystrophy. The regulator's decisions under Prasad raised concerns that he was anti-patient choice, Jefferies analyst Roger Song said, adding that investors will see his departure as a positive for gene therapy and vaccine makers. Biotech stocks had plunged at the news of Prasad's appointment in May. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index had declined 7% then, but later recovered. Shares of Replimmune rose 58%, Sarepta was up 11.2% and Capricor added 21.2% in premarket trading on Wednesday. Prasad also held the additional role of the agency's chief medical and science officer, to which he was appointed last month, according to STAT News. Nominating a more seasoned official to replace him could help the FDA rebuild its credibility, Bilouris said.