''Martin Luther King Jr., A Current Analysis'', officially released as File 104-10125-10133, is a previously

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

20-page analysis by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) on

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, created on March 12, 1968, only three weeks before King's assassination, which sparked several conspiracy theories. When the FBI created the document, it was classified as secret and on May 8, 1994, the document was reviewed by the FBI/JFK Task Force, where it was marked for "total denial". The document was declassified and released on November 3, 2017, by order of

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

Content and analysis

The analysis by the FBI stated King's political ideologies, the civil rights movement, and the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., ...

(SCLC) was heavily influenced by the

Communist Party of the United States of America The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

. Historian

David Garrow David Jeffries Garrow (born May 11, 1953) is an American author and historian. He wrote the book ''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' (1986), which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Biogr ...

stated the document's allegations were untrue. The document also stated King was "a whole-hearted Marxist who has studied it (Marxism), believes in it and agrees with it, but because of his being a minister of religion, does not dare to espouse it publicly". The document also named Stanley Levison, one of King's top advisors as one of the FBI's sources for the information presented. The analysis also included investigation, which discovered King's "drinking, fornication, and homosexuality that went on at the conference", "prostitution", and "an all-night sex orgy was held with these prostitutes".

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

stated this investigation, by order of FBI director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

, was "to uncover compromising information on King and use it to publicly discredit him". An analysis by

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

stated the file "makes clear the FBI’s focus on digging up dirt about a man who had become an icon".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin Luther King Jr., A Current Analysis 1968 documents March 1968 in the United States Civil rights movement Federal Bureau of Investigation operations Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Bureau of Investigation controversies

Content and analysis

See also

References