The popularity of Martin Luther King Jr. worldwide was not hidden from anyone. He was the main face of America’s civil rights movement. His contribution to racial equality and social justice in the US in the 1960s is also not hidden from anyone. On 18 April 1968, Martin Luther King Junior was shot dead in Tennessi’s Memphis, USA. 57 years after his murder, the files related to his murder have been made public today.
Many concerti theory has been revealed about the murder of Martin Luther King. On July 21, US President Trump made more than two lakh pages of documents related to the murder of Martin Luther King Junior under an executive order. This step John F. Kennedy and Robert F. It is part of the revelations of documents related to Kennedy’s killings. These documents were sealed in 1977 under the court order.
What is in these files?
These documents include the investigation into the murder of Martin Luther King, information about James Arl Ray, convicted for his murder and records related to FBI’s surveillance. These include the internal memo of FBI, the methods adopted during the investigation and the details of actions taken to search for James Earl Ray.
James Earl Ray was a criminal and escaped from Missouri State Jail. An audio file includes part of the interview with James Earl Ray’s brother Jerry Ray.
These documents include the monitoring of Martin Luther King under the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program. FBI, especially the then Director J.K. Under the leadership of Edgar Hoover, Martin Luther kept a close watch on his activities, considering Luther King as a radical. The informers were used to wiretaping of Martin Luther King’s telephone, bugs in their hotel rooms and collect information against them.
Documents include details of contact with American officials with foreign intelligence services while searching for James Earl Ray. Ray was caught on 8 June 1968 at Heathro Airport in London.
Lyles associated with the murder of Martin Luther King Junior were sealed for more than 50 years under the court order in 1977 and the documents were to remain confidential till 2027. But on July 21, these files were made public ahead of time under Trump’s executive order.
Why was Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder files sealed?
In 1977, Justice John Luis Smith ordered the Southern Christian leadership conference and Bernard Lee’s plea to seal these documents for 50 years.
These files included records of illegal surveillance made on Martin Luther King and SCLC under FBI’s Cointelpro (Counterprivation Program). The FBI had spied the wiretapping of King’s telephone, putting bugs in his hotel rooms and his personal life. The purpose of this surveillance was to discredit Martin Luther and Civil Rights Movement.
These documents include sensitive information related to their personal life, such as their alleged personal behavior or materials collected by FBI. The family of SCLC and Martin Luther King argued that the information violated their confidentiality and could damage their legacy when they became public.
The court admitted that these documents had such information that could affect the confidentiality of Martin Luther’s family, SCLC and his colleagues. In 1977, it was decided that such sensitive information should be given long time before making public so that the confidentiality of the affected sides remains intact. The court thought it appropriate to seal the documents to maintain secrecy.
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