</s>104-10453-10212 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 39

Summary  
The documents detail U.S. government investigations into Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, alongside international reactions and media coverage. Cuban state media, including *GRAMA* and Radio Liberation, framed the event as a catalyst for revolutionary violence against U.S. racial oppression, citing widespread civil unrest with over 4,000 arrests and 27 deaths in the U.S. The FBI investigated potential foreign ties to the assassination, focusing on James Earl Ray’s travel history, passport usage, and connections to Communist networks, including Cuba and the Soviet Union. An assassination attempt on German leftist Rudolf Dutschke in Berlin on April 11, 1968, prompted heightened scrutiny of radical left groups. U.S. intelligence agencies also tracked financial transactions linked to Ray and analyzed photographs from the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City. International solidarity movements, including Puerto Rican independence leaders and South Vietnamese groups, were referenced as responding to King’s death. The documents include fragmented administrative records, unrelated correspondence, and mentions of posthumous recognition of MLK by global organizations like the World Peace Council.  

Key People  
- Martin Luther King Jr. (assassinated)  
- James Earl Ray (suspected assassin; investigated for foreign ties)  
- Stokely Carmichael (Black Power leader; referenced in Cuban media and international solidarity statements)  
- Fidel Castro Ruz (Cuban revolutionary leader; mentioned in context of U.S. racial policies)  
- Rudolf Dutschke (German leftist student leader; victim of assassination attempt linked to radical left groups)  
- Reverend Ralph Abernathy (MLK’s colleague; received posthumous award for MLK)  
- Wyatt T. Walker (MLK’s associate; received posthumous award for MLK)  
- Juan Mari Brás (Puerto Rican independence leader; referenced in Cuban media)  
- Rudi Dutschke (leftist student leader; victim of assassination attempt in Berlin)  

Key Locations  
- Memphis, Tennessee (site of MLK’s assassination)  
- Washington, D.C. (center of U.S. civil unrest and protests)  
- Havana, Cuba (headquarters of *GRAMA* and Cuban media outlets)  
- Mexico City (site of FBI suspect identification and passport checks)  
- Berlin, Germany (location of Dutschke’s assassination attempt)  
- Paris, France (site of MLK memorial service and press coverage)  
- Kingston, Jamaica (references to protests at U.S. Embassy and Jamaican political groups)  

Key Events  
- Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1968, Memphis, Tennessee  
- U.S. civil unrest following the assassination, including riots and violence in 55 cities (April 5–9, 1968)  
- FBI investigation into MLK’s assassination, focusing on James Earl Ray’s foreign connections and financial records  
- Assassination attempt on Rudolf Dutschke in Berlin, April 11, 1968, linked to radical left groups  
- Cuban media coverage framing MLK’s death as part of global revolutionary struggles against U.S. racism  
- Posthumous awarding of the Joliot-Curie Gold Medal to MLK by the World Peace Council (WPC), accepted by Reverend Ralph Abernathy and Wyatt T. Walker  
- International protests, including a demonstration by Latin American, Asian, and African students in Warsaw  

Key Organizations  
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)  
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)  
- Cuban Communist Party (via *GRAMA* and Radio Liberation)  
- Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)  
- World Peace Council (WPC)  
- Socialist Party of Chile  
- Belgian Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)  
- French Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)  
- Jamaica Service Committee  
- Pantheon Books (publisher)  
- United States Information Agency (USIB)

MLK Declassified Files

00564615_the_assassination_of_mart_104-10433-10212.pdf

Document Summary

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