King Jr’s two living children, Martin III and Bernice, who were notified ahead of time about the release, said in a statement on Monday: “We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief.
“The release of these files must be viewed within their full historical context.
“During our father’s lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).”
The statement said the government’s surveillance had denied King the “dignity and freedoms of private citizens”.
On the campaign trail, Trump promised Americans he would release files on the assassinations of King and former President John F Kennedy.
He signed an executive order in January ordering that documents from both assassinations be declassified, along with the records in the assassination of Robert F Kennedy.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said in a press release on Monday: “The MLK files in today’s release had never been digitized and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades, until today.”
The documents include “internal FBI memos” and “never-before-seen CIA records” behind the hunt for King’s assassin, the DNI said.
The release was co-ordinated with the FBI, Department of Justice, National Archives and CIA.
“The American people deserve answers decades after the horrific assassination of one of our nation’s great leaders,” US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.