Statement by King Institute on the release of FBI and CIA documents related to Martin Luther King, Jr.
On Monday, July 21, 2025, the federal government released a cache of FBI and CIA documents related to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Given our commitment to scholarly expertise, we have taken the past week to critically examine the nearly quarter of a million pages. Thus far, we have found nothing new or surprising as many of the documents were disclosed during previous Freedom of Information Act releases and had been examined by the King Institute and other scholars. As such, we do not expect any major revelations.
For those interested in reviewing the documents, it is important to understand these materials derive from what the FBI called “a no holds barred” counterintelligence campaign to discredit Dr. King and the broader civil rights movement.
The King Institute will remain focused on studying these documents as we continue to be a global destination and leader in the study of Dr. King, his works, and their contemporary relevance to global society.
To learn more on the extent of the Bureau’s campaign against the civil rights leader, see Dr. Lerone Martin’s 2018 interview with the New York Times. For a deeper dive, see this long-form essay.
