President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to declassify FBI files related to the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy and former U.S. Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
“That’s a big one, huh?” Trump remarked. “I know people have been waiting on this … for decades.” He added, “Everything will be revealed.”
The King family revealed in a statement that they were only made aware of the order on the day of its signing. “Today, our family has learned that President Trump has ordered the declassification of the remaining records pertaining to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and our father, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, the civil rights leader’s last two surviving children.
“For us, the assassination of our father is a deeply personal family loss that we have endured over the last 56 years,” the statement continued. “We hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release.”
The order calls for a phased process to release the files. Agencies including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice are required to develop plans within 45 days for releasing files related to Dr. King and Robert F. Kennedy. For files pertaining to President Kennedy, the timeline is 15 days.
While Congress has not specifically mandated the release of files on Dr. King and Robert F. Kennedy, the order cites a broader interest in transparency. “It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay,” the order states.
The decision to declassify FBI files on the 1960s assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Kennedy brothers is significant. For decades, much of the information has remained redacted from public view. Dr. King was fatally shot in 1968 while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. His assassination came just years after the killing of President John F. Kennedy, who had collaborated with King to promote civil rights for Black Americans.
The FBI files on Dr. King have drawn significant attention due to the agency’s history of surveillance under its COINTELPRO program, which surveiled King and other civil rights leaders. This history has fueled persistent speculation about the government’s involvement in his assassination, despite a 1979 congressional committee which stated that it found no evidence implicating federal, state or local agencies.