A federal judge has denied the early unsealing of decades-old FBI surveillance files involving Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Bernard S. Lee, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), according to a joint statement from SCLC, in partnership with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
In January, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14176, which would declassify records related to King’s assassination, but the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied the government’s attempt to declassify these documents before their scheduled release in 2027.
The King family objected to the release, saying in a July statement that their father had been relentlessly pursued by the FBI under then-director, J. Edgar Hoover. They argued that the surveillance files were intended to discredit King and that releasing them before the family could review them undermined their right to privacy.
“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,” the family said in the statement. “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.”
The decision came after the White House, citing public interest, moved to make the files public. But Judge Richard Leon ruled that the original 50-year seal, which was agreed to in the 1970s, should continue, noting that public curiosity does not supersede the King family’s privacy interests, nor does it veto the legal protection owed to people who were targeted by the government.
To prevent exploitation of their father’s legacy, the King family joined the effort to prevent the documents from being released.
“We see this outcome as a victory for the rule of law,” DeMark Liggins Sr., president and CEO of SCLC, said in a statement. “In a time when boundaries are being tested, we are encouraged that this case stands as a win for our judicial system. We stood up for the truth and for historicity, insisting that innuendo, rumor, or politics not be placed in front of justice — not only for SCLC, but for Dr. King’s family as well.”
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