Trump ordered declassification of files on the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King
The president of the United States, donald trumpsigned an executive order this Thursday to declassify files related to the murders of the former president John F. Kennedy (J.F.K.), of the former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr..
“This is a big one. Many people have been waiting for it for years, decades. “Everything is going to be revealed,” he said when signing that order in the Oval Office of the White House.
The White House posted on its website that the families of those affected and the population “deserve transparency and truth”: “It is in the nation’s interest to finally disseminate all records related to these murders without delay.”
This document indicates that in the next 15 days the director of national intelligence and the prosecution must present a plan regarding the publication of the files related to JFK and that within the next 45 days the same must be done with the other two.
John F. Kennedy ruled the United States from January 20, 1961 to November 22, 1963. That day he was murdered while traveling in a convertible vehicle through Dallas, Texas.
Former Navy sniper Lee Harvey Oswald he hit him in the head with a shot. Although according to the official investigation he acted alone, conspiracy theories persist in this regard.
The National Archives had already released documents, but others were being held for security reasons. The White House targeted June 2023, under the mandate of Joe Biden (2021-2025), that the National Archives had already made 99% of its records public.
“I have determined that the withholding of information from records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and that the release of these records should have been done a long time ago,” Trump, who took office, said Thursday. his second term last Monday.
The Republican leader added that although no congressional law mandates the release of information related to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) and Martin Luther King Jr., he also believes it is in the public interest for the records in possession to be released. of the federal government.
The former attorney general and former senator, brother of J.F.K.was murdered at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on June 5, 1968 shortly after achieving victory in that state in the Democratic primary. His son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is nominated by Trump to be his Cabinet’s health secretary.
In April 1968, two months before the “RFK” assassination, Martin Luther King Jr., one of the main figures in the fight against segregationism and the social justicewas murdered on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Trump announced during the campaign his intention to make these records available to the people and reiterated that promise at the mass bath that took place on Monday at the Capital One Arena in Washington shortly after the inauguration.
The assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X left a deep mark on the culture of the 1960s in the United States.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 became fertile ground for conspiracy theories that question the official version presented by the Warren Commission. According to the report, Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting the president from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. However, many doubted this explanation, pointing out the possibility of a broader plot involving the CIA, the mafia, or even international actors such as Cuba or the Soviet Union. Zapruder film, which captured the moment of the murder, and inconsistencies in the investigations fueled these theories, making the event one of the most debated mysteries in American history.
The assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 has also been the subject of speculation, although Sirhan Sirhan was arrested at the scene and convicted of the crime. Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant, claimed to have killed Kennedy because of his support for Israel, but theories have pointed to possible mental manipulations or the presence of a second shooter as unsolved elements of the case. Irregularities in forensic evidence, contradictory testimonies and political interests at stake have kept alive the debate over whether there was a cover-up surrounding the murder of the presidential candidate who sought to continue his brother’s legacy.
The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, officially attributed to James Earl Ray, has also raised questions about his true authorship and motivation. Ray, who initially confessed to the crime, later recanted, claiming he was manipulated by a larger conspiracy. King’s family has publicly expressed reservations about the official version, pointing to possible government involvement in the civil rights leader’s assassination. A civil trial in 1999 concluded that government agencies and private actors were involved in a plot to assassinate King, reinforcing theories that his death was a deliberate attempt to silence his fight for equality and justice.
(With information from EFE)
