No new revelations in newly released Martin Luther King assassination files

Reports indicate that over 6,000 documents related to the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., totaling nearly 250,000 pages, have been published on the website of the U.S. National Archives. The U.S. government has hailed this release as a victory for transparency.

However, several historians said these documents reveal no new disclosures about the death of the prominent civil rights activist and emphasized that the files do not include FBI wiretaps of King or other materials that remain sealed by court order until 2027.

The New York Times reported that the unexpected release came at a time when Donald Trump and White House officials have been trying to distract attention from mounting calls to release files related to the Jeffrey Epstein crimes case.

U.S. government officials said the King assassination files contain notes on leads pursued by investigators, interviews with individuals who knew James Earl Ray, King’s assassin; and previously unpublished details of interactions with foreign intelligence services during the pursuit of Ray.

Only one audio file was released, which contains part of an interview law enforcement officers conducted with Jerry Ray, a relative of James Earl Ray.

Officials stated that these documents had never been digitized and had been gathering dust in various federal facilities for decades.

Many pages have become nearly illegible due to the passage of time and the digitization process.

David Garrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of King and author of a book about the FBI’s surveillance campaign against him, said his preliminary review led him to conclude there is little public interest in these files and much of the content has already been disclosed. He said: “I saw nothing that struck me as new.”

Meanwhile, some experts and members of King’s family have expressed skepticism about the accuracy of some contents of previously released documents.

King’s surviving children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, argued in a statement that their father had been relentlessly targeted by an aggressive, predatory, and deeply troubling campaign of misinformation and surveillance.

They called on researchers and the American public to examine all available government files within the context of their father’s contributions to American society.