The administration of US President Donald Trump has released declassified documents related to the investigation into the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., a pioneer of civil rights for black Americans. They include, in particular, data on the surveillance conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over King.

"The American people have waited almost 60 years for the federal government to have access to the full information on the assassination of Dr. King," said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

According to her, "our mission is to ensure transparency in all the details of this important and tragic event, and nothing should be left in the dark."

Gabbard noted that more than 230,000 pages of documents have been published with minimal redactions. They are available on the official website of the US National Archives.

Note that after taking office, Donald Trump signed several orders, including those of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F, on the declassification of documents in the Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassination cases.

Civil rights activist and preacher Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray, a former convict, was arrested on charges of murder. Although he confessed to the crime, he later claimed that the confession was extracted under duress. Ray died in prison in 1998.

Members of King's family have repeatedly expressed doubts about Ray's guilt, noting that he may not have been the only, or even the real, culprit. Many of King's supporters, who do not believe the official version, also hold this belief.