Journalist Roland Martin is sounding the alarm after President Donald Trump moved to declassify Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr‘s assassination files.
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to declassify files on MLK Jr, Robert F. Kennedy, and former President John F. Kennedy.
“It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay,” the White House said in a statement.
MLK’s youngest daughter Bernice King released a statement on X (Twitter). She asked that Trump allow the King family to see the files on her father before they are released to the public.
Bernice King and Martin Luther King III are probably concerned about the recordings of MLK Jr. and women in motel rooms over a 5-year period.
Statement on behalf of the Family of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“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,… pic.twitter.com/gPK1ivj41p
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) January 24, 2025
In the 1960s the FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, bugged motel rooms where MLK Jr. stayed.
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson gave the FBI authorization to spy on MLK Jr. and his advisers. The surveillance started in 1963 until King’s death in 1968. During the surveillance the FBI recorded King’s sexual exploits with prostitutes.
The focus of the investigation quickly shifted from King’s advisers to his romantic rendezvous with women.
Reporters who had access to the FBI’s notes learned that agents bugged a room where King stayed at the Willard Hotel in January 1964.
The microphone picked up sounds of Dr. King and at least 11 others participating in what the FBI memos describe as “an orgy” on Jan. 6, 1964.
In 1977 a court ordered the FBI’s notes, photographs, film footage and audio tapes about King sealed until 2027.
But on Thursday, Trump ordered all the files released to the public within 55 days of his executive order.
It is unclear if the released files will include King’s motel audio tapes, transcripts, and FBI notes.
However, Roland Martin is convinced that Trump is trying to destroy MLK Jr’s legacy by releasing the hotel tapes and FBI notes.
“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,'” Martin said.
He said 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,” Martin continued.
Martin added: “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.”
