*To folks who welcomed President Donald Trump’s newly signed executive order to declassify files on the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., journalist Roland Martin suggests you read between the lines.
To hear him tell it, King’s legacy is on the line with revelations that can potentially change the public’s perception of the civil rights leader for the worse. Despite the files shedding light on what happened with King’s assassination, Martin is adamant that no good will come from Trump’s order.
“I guarantee you when these papers are released, and you get the recordings and all the stuff from the FBI, people are going to say ‘take his name off of streets,’” the famed journalist said, adding that parents will demand King’s name be removed from elementary schools and other institutions.
“Take his name off of elementary schools. We should not have programs honoring him. We should not have scholarship programs. He was not a moral man,” he continued, adding, “I’m telling y’all… don’t think for a second that this executive order signed by Trump is all about getting to the truth of what happens… I’m telling y’all right now.”
Martin’s warning comes in the wake of Trump signing the executive order on Jan. 23 to declassify files on King as well as Robert F. Kennedy and former President John F. Kennedy.
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“It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay,” the White House said in a statement.
Noting the King family’s reaction to the order, Sandra Rose highlighted a statement released on X by the “I Have a Dream” speech deliverer’s youngest daughter Bernice King, asking Trump to allow the King family to see the files on her father before its public release.
Sandra Rose notes that Bernice and her brother, Martin Luther King III may be concerned about recordings made over five years of the elder King and women in motel rooms.
The audio is remnants of moves made against King by the FBI during the 1960’s. Under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, the agency bugged motel rooms where the historic icon stayed.
The tale of the tapes continued during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson as the then-commander-in-chief authorized the FBI to spy on King and his advisors from its start in 1963 to King’s death in 1968. It was this time, that the FBI’s surveillance recorded King’s sexual exploits with prostitutes. The focus of the agency’s investigation clearly transitioned from King’s advisers to his romantic rendezvous with a woman not named Coretta.
Information discovered by reporters with access to the FBI’s notes highlights agents bugging a room where King stayed at the Willard Hotel in January 1964.
The microphone proved to be a good resource for the FBI, capturing the sounds of King and at least 11 others taking part in what FBI memos describe as “an orgy” on Jan. 6, 1964.
Although the FBI’s notes, photographs, film footage, and audio tapes about King were sealed via a court order in 1977 until 2027, Trump undid the legal action by ordering all the files released to the public within 55 days of his executive order.
Despite the King family’s motivation for wanting a first look at the soon-to-be formerly classified documents, it is unclear if the released files will include any audio tapes, transcripts, and FBI notes related to King’s motel episodes.
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