“We recognize that the release of documents concerning the assassination of our father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has long been a subject of interest, captivating public curiosity for decades. As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief—a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met—an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,” they said in a statement posted on X. “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.”

It’s unclear what these records will show us, other than more personal and private information about Dr. King’s life—which would be further confirmation of the U.S. government’s incessant, malicious, and unconstitutional surveillance of Dr. King via J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO operation.

“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 intent of the government’s COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King’s reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement,” the King siblings wrote in the same statement. “These actions were not only invasions of privacy, but intentional assaults on the truth—undermining the dignity and freedoms of private citizens who fought for justice, designed to neutralize those who dared to challenge the status quo.”