US releases documents related to Martin Luther King Jr assassination

WASHINGTON: The US government on Monday released more than 230,000 pages of documents related to the assassination of civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

The documents provide a long-awaited insight into the FBI’s investigation nearly six decades after the assassination.  

Read more: Trump’s name on 2003 birthday letter to Epstein, Wall Street Journal reports

The Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced the release, which was conducted in coordination with the US Department of Justice, the FBI, the notorious CIA, and the US National Archives.

The documents have been stored in federal facilities for decades and digitised recently following an executive order from US President Donald Trump that mandated transparency on historically significant assassination cases, including those of John F Kennedy and Senator Robert F Kennedy.

Interestingly, Tramp refuses to talk about or declassify the documents related to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with whom the billionaire enjoyed years of friendship. Trump even reacted angrily when criticised about denying the existence of the “Epstein files”.

Martin Luther King Jr was shot dead on April 4, 1968, aged 39. He was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, US state of Tennessee.

James Earl Ray was convicted. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

However, controversy has surrounded the famed civil rights’ leader, with several conspiracy theories surrounding  the circumstances of the killing.

Ocasio-Cortez rejects allegations about her voting for funding Israel amid Gaza war

The newly released files include FBI internal memos, investigative leads pursued at the time, and records related to James Earl Ray’s former cellmate, who claimed Ray discussed a conspiracy to assassinate the activist leader.

They also contain foreign intelligence evidence, including Canadian police reports tracing Ray’s movements as he fled the US. CIA documents shed light on international efforts to tract Ray during the man hurt.

Martin Luther King Jr’s surviving children reportedly reviewed the documents in advance and issued a statement urging the public to consider the files within their full historical context.

Read more: Trump orders release of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King assassination files

The King children expressed continued grief over their father’s unjust death and condemned any attempts to misuse the documents to cast doubt on the legacy of the civil rights’ leader or the wider movement itself.

Since the FBI began collecting the materials in 1977, the files have been sealed or partially redacted. It’s release today marks the first time the vast majority of the records are available to the public with minimal censorship.