The U.S. government has finally released long-awaited documents related to the assassination of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., nearly 60 years after his death.

The move was carried out under the administration of President Donald Trump, despite earlier concerns raised by members of Dr. King's family. The files were made public on Monday as part of a broader effort to shed light on major political assassinations of the 1960s.

According to Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, over 230,000 pages of documents have now been declassified, with only a few redactions made to protect personal privacy. “The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government’s investigation into Dr. King’s assassination,” she stated.

Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order directing the release of government files connected to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.

In March, documents related to JFK’s 1963 assassination were released, followed by files in April concerning the killing of Robert Kennedy in 1968.

This latest release is expected to provide new insights into the events surrounding Dr. King’s assassination in April 1968, a tragic moment that deeply shook the United States and sparked widespread unrest.

Historians, journalists, and civil rights advocates are already combing through the pages to better understand what the government knew, and whether any new information challenges the official accounts that have stood for decades.