Martin Luther King Jr.’s family responded to Donald Trump’s move to order the declassification of records linked to the assassination of the American civil rights activist more than 50 years ago.
In a statement published on social media Thursday evening, the family said it had a request for the president, who was sworn in for a second term Jan 20. Trump also ordered the release of documents connected to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
The three assassinations are among the most consequential in U.S. history. Trump ordered some of his top officials to make plans to release the files on King’s assassination within 45 days, but it is unclear when they will be made public.
“Today, our family has learned that President Trump has ordered the declassification of the remaining records pertaining to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and our father, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” the family said.
The family asked the White House if they could take a look at the files before they are made public.
“For us, the assassination of our father is a deeply personal family loss that we have endured over the last 56 years. We hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release.”
The King family has asked to see the assassination files before they are released to the public. / Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
King was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, while standing on a balcony at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 39. His family believe that James Earl Ray, who was convicted in King’s assassination, was framed.
“It pains my heart that James Earl Ray had to spend his life in prison paying for things he didn’t do,” said King’s youngest child Bernice King, 61, The Washington Post reported in 2018.
Trump described his executive order as “a big one” on Thursday.
“A lot of people are waiting for this for long, for years, for decades. And everything will be revealed,” Trump told reporters as he signed the executive order in the Oval Office.
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