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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge hints at early release of MLK Jr assassination files following Trump's order
The government's secret files on the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could be released ahead of schedule after a federal judge in Washington indicated he was open to doing so. In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, demanding the release of all government documents pertaining to the shootings of MLK, as well as both President John F Kennedy and his brother, Robert F Kennedy, in the 1960s. 'Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth,' Trump said in the order. 'It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.' Dr King was shot dead on the second floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4 1968, with the official narrative remaining that the gunman was the petty criminal James Earl Ray, who hit him with a Remington rifle fired from the window of a rented room in a boarding house standing across the street. In 1977, a judge ordered the government to unseal all of the files it holds on the case and make them public in 2027. However, at Wednesday's hearing in Washington, Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia suggested he was prepared to bring the release date forward to comply with Trump's wishes, although he also emphasized the importance of sensitivity. Judge Leon said the first step would be for the National Archives and Records Administration to show him the complete inventory of files it has in its possession on the MLK assassination and the FBI investigation that followed, so as to establish the size of the processing task ahead. The hearing was prompted by a lawsuit filed by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization based in King's native Atlanta, Georgia, which seeks to halt the expedited release. Before the judge's ruling, Sumayya Saleh, a lawyer representing the conference, had argued that the push to publish the documents amounted to a 'deliberate effort to undermine the civil rights movement' and to 'discredit' MLK's legacy. Justice Department lawyer Johnny Walker proposed that officials from his agency be allowed to comb through the papers first and produce a subset that the justice and the conference could peruse before approving or challenging their release. Judge Leon ultimately determined that he should have the first look, describing the situation as 'the first few steps in a journey' that could take years and reminding both sides: 'This is delicate stuff.' 'Keep the lines of communication open,' he ordered the Justice Department and Southern Christian Leadership Conference, saying he would 'bless' any agreement between them to examine the files jointly. 'That's in everyone's interest, including the president's.' The King family has long contested that version of events, and the killing has been the subject of conspiracy theories ever since, with some suggesting a police sharpshooter really fired the fatal shot and others that Ray had accepted a $50,000 bounty put forward by segregationist groups to make the hit. 'The Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband… Mr Ray was set up to take the blame,' the deceased's widow, Coretta Scott King, said in 1999.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Judge Considers Early Release of Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination Documents
A federal judge in Washington said on Wednesday that he was open to lifting a court order ahead of schedule to release potentially sensitive documents related to the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., nodding to an executive order President Trump signed in January aimed at achieving that outcome. During a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the possibility, Judge Richard Leon of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia nonetheless cautioned that he intended to proceed slowly and prioritize privacy in an extended process to determine whether any documents should be released before 2027, the date that another judge set in 1977 for the documents to be unsealed. Judge Leon said he would start by ordering the National Archives to show him — and him alone — an inventory of all the sealed materials related to Dr. King that have been stored there. He said that the inventory, which the government says it has not reviewed, might help shed light on whether documents specifically related to Dr. King's assassination in 1968, and the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that followed, had been separated out and could be efficiently processed. The hearing on Wednesday came through a lawsuit brought by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights organization based in Atlanta associated with Dr. King, which has sued to halt any effort to unseal documents early. It came in response to an executive order Mr. Trump signed in January that directed intelligence agencies to set in motion plans to release records related to the assassinations of Dr. King, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Judge weighs government's request to unseal records of FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr.
A federal judge is weighing a request from the Trump administration to unseal records of the FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. — files that the civil rights leader's relatives want to keep under wraps in the national archives. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., said during a hearing on Wednesday that he wants to see an inventory of the records before deciding whether the government can review them for possible release to the public. 'This is delicate stuff,' Leon said. 'We're going to go slowly. Little steps.' Justice Department attorneys have asked Leon to end a sealing order for the records nearly two years ahead of its expiration date. A department attorney said the administration is only interested in releasing files related to King's assassination. 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 want to keep the files under seal. In 1977, a court order directed the FBI to collect records about its surveillance and monitoring of King and turn them over to the National Archives and Records Administration. The order required the records to remain under seal for 50 years — until Jan. 31, 2027. In January, President Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to review and publicly release documents about King's assassination 'because the American people have an interest in full transparency about this key historic event,' government lawyers wrote. 'To maximize this transparency objective, the records sealed in this case should be part of the Attorney General's review,' they added. SCLC attorneys said the FBI tried to discredit King and their organization by illegally wiretapping King's home, SCLC offices and hotel rooms where King met with other SCLC officials. Unsealing records of those recordings is contrary to the interests of SCLC, the King family and the public, the lawyers argued. 'Since its inception, this case has been about government overreach,' said SCLC attorney Sumayya Saleh. Justice Department attorney Johnny Walker said the administration has no intention of releasing any personal communications or privileged records contained in the files. 'Thankfully, I am not here to defend the allegations in the underlying complaint,' Walker told the judge. Nobody involved in the litigation knows what's in the archives and whether any of it relates to King's assassination. 'It could be easy. There could be nothing, and then we just all go away,' Walker said. 'It's not going to happen overnight,' the judge said. 'The court is going to move very carefully.' King was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1976, the SCLC and Bernard Lee, who was King's executive assistant at the organization, filed a lawsuit to challenge the legality of the FBI's surveillance. The 1977 court order required the FBI to compile records of its telephone wiretapping operations, between 1963 and 1968, at King's home and at the SCLC offices in Atlanta and New York. Bernice King, the civil rights leader's youngest daughter, said in a court filing that she hopes the files are permanently sealed or destroyed. 'It is unquestionable that my father was a private citizen, not an elected official, who enjoyed the right to privacy that should be afforded to all private citizens of this country,' she said. 'To not only be unjustifiably surveilled, but to have the purported surveillance files made public would be a travesty of justice.' Trump's Jan. 23 executive order also called for declassifying records about the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Judge weighs government's request to unseal records of FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is weighing a request from the Trump administration to unseal records of the FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. — files that the civil rights leader's relatives want to keep under wraps in the national archives. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., said during a hearing on Wednesday that he wants to see an inventory of the records before deciding whether the government can review them for possible release to the public. 'This is delicate stuff,' Leon said. 'We're going to go slowly. Little steps.' Justice Department attorneys have asked Leon to end a sealing order for the records nearly two years ahead of its expiration date. A department attorney said the administration is only interested in releasing files related to King's assassination. 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 want to keep the files under seal. In 1977, a court order directed the FBI to collect records about its surveillance and monitoring of King and turn them over to the National Archives and Records Administration. The order required the records to remain under seal for 50 years — until Jan. 31, 2027. In January, President Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to review and publicly release documents about King's assassination 'because the American people have an interest in full transparency about this key historic event,' government lawyers wrote. 'To maximize this transparency objective, the records sealed in this case should be part of the Attorney General's review,' they added. SCLC attorneys said the FBI tried to discredit King and their organization by illegally wiretapping King's home, SCLC offices and hotel rooms where King met with other SCLC officials. Unsealing records of those recordings is contrary to the interests of SCLC, the King family and the public, the lawyers argued. 'Since its inception, this case has been about government overreach,' said SCLC attorney Sumayya Saleh. Justice Department attorney Johnny Walker said the administration has no intention of releasing any personal communications or privileged records contained in the files. 'Thankfully, I am not here to defend the allegations in the underlying complaint,' Walker told the judge. Nobody involved in the litigation knows what's in the archives and whether any of it relates to King's assassination. 'It could be easy. There could be nothing, and then we just all go away,' Walker said. 'It's not going to happen overnight,' the judge said. 'The court is going to move very carefully.' King was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1976, the SCLC and Bernard Lee, who was King's executive assistant at the organization, filed a lawsuit to challenge the legality of the FBI's surveillance. The 1977 court order required the FBI to compile records of its telephone wiretapping operations, between 1963 and 1968, at King's home and at the SCLC offices in Atlanta and New York. Bernice King, the civil rights leader's youngest daughter, said in a court filing that she hopes the files are permanently sealed or destroyed. 'It is unquestionable that my father was a private citizen, not an elected official, who enjoyed the right to privacy that should be afforded to all private citizens of this country,' she said. 'To not only be unjustifiably surveilled, but to have the purported surveillance files made public would be a travesty of justice.' Trump's Jan. 23 executive order also called for declassifying records about the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Calls grow to rebuild fire-damaged Clayborn Temple
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It's been nine days since the historic, 133-year-old Clayborn Temple caught fire, and now there are calls from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to rebuild it. You can't talk about the history of Civil Rights in Memphis without bringing up the Clayborn Temple. 'It had become the epicenter for the Civil Rights movement and cultural activities in the city of Memphis,' said Dr. LaSimba Gray, an SCLC member. 'The signs 'I Am A Man' we're printed in the building by the pastor at the time, Malcolm Blackwell, so you have a lot of fond memories of this building.' Fire destroys Clayborn Temple, historic Memphis church with ties to Civil Rights movement And while ruins now stand in the place where history was made, Dr. Gray and his colleagues have a clear vision on what they'd like to see going forward. 'Restore it to its original grandeur, and continue programs that would continue the racial progress that were made during its tenure and existence,' Gray said. Fundraising efforts for the temple are led by Anasa Troutman and the Big We Foundation in Memphis, The SCLC is calling on federal funding as well. Could Clayborn Temple rise from the ashes? A preservationist weighs in While what's happened is nothing short of a disaster, Dr. Gray is inspired by the support for the landmark. 'The interest is growing and the better the weather gets the more support you will see for this project. Ms. Troutman is not in the by herself she has a whole community walking with her and the Big We Foundation will be supported by all of us,' Gray said. Dr. Gray asks if you'd like to donate, please visit the Big We Foundation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
