President Trump Releases Files Related To MLK’s Assassination
on Jul 21, 2025
President Trump Signed Executive Order To Declassify Any Files Related To MLK’s Assassination
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – or MLK – was assassinated on April 4, 1968 on the balcony of his room at Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
57 years after his death, President Donald Trump announced his plans to declassify any documents relating to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., John F Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy.
Trump stayed true to his word, signing an executive order on January 23, 2025, just three days after he took office. The President told his aide to give the pen that he used to sign the order for Robert F. Kennedy to the late politician’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ran for president in 2024 and is currently the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
President Trump’s order gave the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General 15 days to “present a plan to the President for the full and complete release of records” of the assassination of JFK. He gave 45 days for them to create a plan to release the records for RFK and MLK.
The files regarding Robert F. Kennedy were released on April 18, 2025.
Details About MLK’s Assassination
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was staying at Lorraine Motel in Room 306, which he had done many times before. Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson, two of King’s closest confidants, were present at the time of his assassination, as was musician Ben Branch.
His last words were reportedly spoken to Branch, who was scheduled to perform at an event King was attending later that night. King told Branch, “Ben, make sure you play ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’ in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.”
After being shot, King passed away about an hour later at St. Joseph’s Hospital at the age of 39.
Two months later, James Earl Ray was captured in England and charged with King’s murder once he was brought back to the States. On March 10, 1969, nearly a year later, he confessed to killing King, but recanted three days later.
To avoid getting the death penalty, Ray’s lawyer advised him to plead guilty, which he did. He received 99 years in prison. He died in 1998 at the age of 70.
An initial FBI investigation took place when the murder occurred but many of the documents have remained sealed – until now. In the early 90s, a man named Loyd Jowers claimed he had ties to the mafia and the government. He stated that he hired someone to kill King as a favor to famous mafia leader Frank Liberto, using Ray as a scapegoat.
Of course, Liberto had died before Jowers came forward with this claim.
King’s family members spoke with Ray, who repeatedly said he did not kill Dr. King. They believed in him so much that they pushed for a retrial.
Due to Jowers’ admission of guilt, King’s window, Coretta Scott King and her children filed a civil case against Jowers and “other unknown co-conspirators” for wrongful death. In 1999, the jury found Jowers to be complicit in conspiracy and that the government was in fact involved in King’s murder.
The following year, the Department of Justice investigated Jowers’ claims, but found them to be not credible, seeing as Jowers identified four different people as the assassin.
What Did The Classified Documents Say?
On July 21, the documents regarding MLK’s assassination were finally released to the public, despite the King family’s pleas against doing so. However, King’s children, Bernice and Martin Luther King III did receive the files prior and were still going through everything when they were released to the public.
The Associated Press reports that there were over 240,000 pages that were under a court-order seal since 1977.
It is still unknown whether the documents would “shed any new light on King’s life, the Civil Rights Movement or his murder.”
In a statement provided to AP, King’s children said,
“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.”
Bernice and Martin III vocalized their claims that Ray was “set up” and that their father was a target of conspiracy.
The Kings said, “As we review these newly released files, we will assess whether they offer additional insights beyond the findings our family has already accepted.”
See their full statement here.
