STORY: The U.S. Justice Department on Monday (July 21) released more than 240,000 pages of documents related to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., including records from the FBI, which had surveilled the civil rights leader as part of an effort to discredit the Nobel Peace Prize winner and his civil rights movement.

Files were posted on the website of the National Archives, which said more would be released.

King died of an assassin's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, as he increasingly extended his attention from a nonviolent campaign for equal rights for African Americans to economic issues and calls for peace. His death shook the United States in a year that would also bring race riots, anti-Vietnam war demonstrations and the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump's administration released thousands of pages of digital documents related to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and former President John F. Kennedy, who was killed in 1963.

Trump promised on the campaign trail to provide more transparency about Kennedy's death. Upon taking office, he also ordered aides to present a plan for the release of records relating to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and King.

The FBI kept files on King in the 1950s and 1960s - even wiretapping his phones - because of what the bureau falsely said at the time were his suspected ties to communism during the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union. In recent years, the FBI has acknowledged that as an example of "abuse and overreach" in its history.

The civil rights leader's family asked those who engage with the files to "do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family's continuing grief," and condemned "any attempts to misuse these documents."

"Now more than ever, we must honor his sacrifice by committing ourselves to the realization of his dream – a society rooted in compassion, unity, and equality," they said in a statement.

"During our father's lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation," the family, including his two living children, Martin III, 67, and Bernice, 62, said, referring to the then-FBI director.

James Earl Ray, a segregationist and drifter, confessed to killing King but later recanted. He died in prison in 1998.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF RECORDS OF THE FBI’S SURVEILLANCE OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. / SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS BY HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST MARTIN LUTHER KING III AND U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI / FILE FOOTAGE OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

SHOWS: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JULY 21, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

1. VARIOUS OF STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

INTERNET (JULY 21, 2025) (SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - Access all) (MUTE)

2. VARIOUS OF POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE BY HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST MARTIN LUTHER KING III, READING (English): “Statement from the King Family on the Release of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination Files:

‘We recognize that the release of documents concerning the assassination of our father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has long been a subject of interest, captivating public curiosity for decades. As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief – a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met – an absence our family has endured for over 57 years. We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family's continuing grief.

The release of these files must be viewed within their full historical context. During our father’s lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The intent of the government’s COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement. These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth – undermining the dignity and freedoms of private citizens who fought for justice, designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo.

In 1999, our family filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit in Shelby County, Tennessee. The jury unanimously concluded that our father was the victim of a conspiracy involving Loyd Jowers and unnamed co-conspirators, including government agencies as a part of a wider scheme. The verdict also affirmed that someone other than James Earl Ray was the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. Our family views that verdict as an affirmation of our long-held beliefs. As we review these newly released files, we will assess whether they offer additional insights beyond the findings our family has already accepted.

While we support transparency and historical accountability, we object to any attacks on our father’s legacy or attempts to weaponize it to spread falsehoods. We strongly condemn any attempts to misuse these documents in ways intended to undermine our father’s legacy and the significant achievements of the movement. Those who promote the fruit of the FBI’s surveillance will unknowingly align themselves with an ongoing campaign to degrade our father and the Civil Rights Movement.

Instead of repeating the injustices of the past, we encourage the public to continue the work that our father began – building equity, justice, and peace for all. Now more than ever, we must honor his sacrifice by committing ourselves to the realization of his dream – a society rooted in compassion, unity, and equality.

Let us move forward together, inspired by our father’s enduring vision of the Beloved Community – a world made possible when we choose to center love in all that we do. By embracing compassion, mutual respect, and justice, we can transform his dream into our shared reality.’

- Martin Luther King III and Dr. Bernice A. King”

3. FRAGMENT OF POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE BY HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST MARTIN LUTHER KING III, READING (English): “The release of these files must be viewed within their full historical context. During our father’s lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The intent of the government’s COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement. These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth – undermining the dignity and freedoms of private citizens who fought for justice, designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo.”

4. FRAGMENT OF POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE BY HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST MARTIN LUTHER KING III, READING (English): “While we support transparency and historical accountability, we object to any attacks on our father’s legacy or attempts to weaponize it to spread falsehoods. We strongly condemn any attempts to misuse these documents in ways intended to undermine our father’s legacy and the significant achievements of the movement. Those who promote the fruit of the FBI’s surveillance will unknowingly align themselves with an ongoing campaign to degrade our father and the Civil Rights Movement.

Instead of repeating the injustices of the past, we encourage the public to continue the work that our father began – building equity, justice, and peace for all. Now more than ever, we must honor his sacrifice by committing ourselves to the realization of his dream – a society rooted in compassion, unity, and equality.”

5. POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE BY U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI, READING (English): “Great to spend time with Dr. Alveda King today before the release of the MLK Jr. files. Her uncle, Martin Luther King Jr.‘s, dream still lives on today in our great nation.”

SELMA, ALABAMA UNTIED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS - Access all))

6. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. WALKING AND DUCKING AN OBJECT THAT IS THROWN IN HIS DIRECTION

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE UNITED STATES (FILE) (NBC - Broadcasters: No use USA/CNN. Digital: For broadcast client use only, no use internet, mobile, wireless)

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ON THE EVE OF HIS DEATH SAYING:

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord." / KING RETURNING TO HIS SEAT FLOCKED BY CLERGY MEMBERS

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE) (NBC - Broadcasters: No use USA/CNN. Digital: For broadcast client use only, no use internet, mobile, wireless)

8. SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN ANNOUNCING THE DEATH OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING