Trump Administration Releases FBI Files on Martin Luther King Jr. Amid Family Opposition

Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, speaks to thousands during his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington

The Trump administration has released approximately 200,000 pages of FBI surveillance records on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., despite objections from his family and the civil rights organization he once led. The documents had been under court seal since 1977, following their initial transfer from the FBI to the National Archives and Records Administration.

The newly public files include sensitive material related to FBI leads following King’s assassination and CIA intelligence tracking King’s increasing focus on global anti-war and anti-poverty campaigns in the years leading up to his 1968 murder. Though it remains unclear whether these documents shed new light on King’s activism, personal life, or the broader Civil Rights Movement, their release marks a significant moment in the public reckoning with U.S. intelligence operations targeting civil rights leaders.

Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, the civil rights leader’s surviving children, were notified ahead of the release and have assigned teams to independently review the material. Their efforts to analyze the documents continue even as the public gains access to the records.