Less than a week into his first term, President Donald Trump has been on a roll signing more than 20 executive orders and actions on Inauguration Day, according to USA today. And he is showing no signs of slowing down, signing a January 23 executive order calling for the release of files connected to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with former President John F. Kennedy and former Senator Robert F. Kennedy. However, while Trump says “all will be revealed” when the information is made public, the family of Dr. King says they would like the chance to see the files before they are shared publicly.
“For us, the assassination of our father is a deeply personal family loss that we have endured over the last 56 years. We hope to be provided the opportunity to review the files as a family prior to its public release,” the family said in a January 23 statement released on X.
The King family added that they are not taking interviews while they wait for more information.
Dr. King was shot on April 4, 1968, on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Although James Earl Ray pled guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, there has been plenty of speculation over the years that he didn’t act alone.
Trump’s executive order gives the Director of National Intelligence and Attorney General 45 days to develop a plan to publish the records related to Dr. King and Robert Kennedy’s assassinations and 15 days for President Kennedy. He says making the information available is in the public interest.
“Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth,” the order reads. “It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.”