The Trump administration on Monday released over 230,000 pages of previously classified documents regarding the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced the release coordinated by the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, and the National Archives and Records Administration.
“The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government’s investigation into Dr. King’s assassination,” Gabbard said in a statement.
The release comes months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding full transparency into the assassinations of King, President John F. Kennedy, and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are ensuring that no stone is left unturned in our mission to deliver complete transparency on this pivotal and tragic event in our nation’s history,” Gabbard added. “I extend my deepest appreciation to the King family for their support.”
The newly released records include details on the FBI’s investigation into King’s assassination, such as internal memos on the case’s progress and documents regarding James Earl Ray’s former cellmate, who claimed they discussed an alleged assassination plot.
Ray allegedly shot and killed King in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. The record points to Ray as the lone assassin, but there has been speculation over the years that the killer was involved in a conspiracy.
After assassinating King, the suspect fled the United States to Canada before flying to London, where he was eventually arrested. He admitted guilt in 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray died in 1998.
The documents also include “unique foreign evidence from a Canadian police department” and CIA records that shed light on intelligence related to the global manhunt for Ray, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said.
The office noted that, unlike most of the files pertaining to the Kennedy assassination, the files on King’s murder “had never been digitized and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades.”
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Dr. Alveda King, the niece of the civil rights icon, praised Trump and Gabbard for following through on their commitment to release troves of declassified information on King’s death.
“My uncle lived boldly in pursuit of truth and justice, and his enduring legacy of faith continues to inspire Americans to this day,” she said. “While we continue to mourn his death, the declassification and release of these documents are a historic step towards the truth that the American people deserve.”