Exploring the Files of JFK, RFK, and MLK Jr.

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() President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will declassify any remaining files related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

The assassination of JFK in 1963 and of RFK and King in 1968 have long been the subject of conspiracy theories regarding the perpetrators and motives.

While some files were previously declassified, a number have remained unavailable to the public, stoking additional rumors about what really happened.

Why were the files classified?

The majority of files on the assassinations have been made public in the decades since they occurred.

However, the National Archives has kept some files under seal, citing the need to protect the identity of law enforcement and intelligence informants who are still living and could be subject to threats.

Some of those people are foreign and live outside the U.S., which would make it difficult for the government to protect them if they were revealed.

The JFK files also include the locations of CIA stations and safehouses, some of which may still be in use.

Why do people want the files released?

All three assassination attempts have been the subject of conspiracy theories for decades regarding the perpetrators and motivations.

Many people have accused the U.S. government, particularly the CIA, of being involved.

What happened during the John F. Kennedy assassination?

President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie Kennedy arriving in Texas. (Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston)
FILE – The limousine carrying mortally wounded President John F. Kennedy races toward the hospital seconds after he was shot, Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. The 60th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination, marked on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, finds his family, and the country, at a moment many would not have imagined in JFK’s lifetime. (AP Photo/Justin Newman, File)
22nd November 1963: US statesman John F Kennedy, 35th president of the US, and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy traveling in the presidential motorcade at Dallas, shortly before his assassination. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
US President John F Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, and others smile at the crowds lining their motorcade route in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Minutes later the President was assassinated as his car passed through Dealey Plaza.
FILE – In this June 5, 1968 file photo, Hotel busboy Juan Romero, right, comes to the aid of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, as he lies on the floor of the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles moments after he was shot. Romero was a teenage busboy in June 1968 when Kennedy walked through the Ambassador Hotel kitchen after his victory in the California presidential primary and an assassin shot him in the head. He held the mortally wounded Kennedy as he lay on the ground, struggling to keep the senator’s bleeding head from hitting the floor. (Richard Drew/Pasadena Star News via AP, File)
President John F. Kennedy in the motorcade in Texas. (Library of Congress)
President John F. Kennedy (Library of Congress)

President John F. Kennedy was shot while riding in an open-top car as part of a motorcade in Texas on Nov. 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for killing JFK by shooting from the Texas School Book Depository nearby. Oswald never went to trial because he was shot by Jack Ruby while being transferred from the city jail to a county jail.

There were multiple investigations into the Kennedy assassination, with the ultimate conclusion finding that Oswald was the shooter and he acted alone. However, many questioned the rushed nature of the investigations and pointed to what they have said is conflicting evidence.

A wide range of conspiracy theories exist about the JFK assassination. They range from theories that Oswald was one of a number of co-conspirators to ones that say he was an innocent patsy set up by the real perpetrators. People have suggested the bullets came from a grassy knoll nearby in addition to or instead of the Depository.

Those accused of being behind the assassination include the CIA, the FBI, the U.S. military, the Mafia, Vice President Lyndon Johnson, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the KGB, among others.

What happened during the Robert F. Kennedy assassination?

Robert F. Kennedy delivered remarks at the Ambassador Hotel before he was killed. (Sven Walnum)
(Original Caption) Robert Kennedy, Chief counsel of the Senate rackets committee, and Mrs. Kennedy are beaming fondly at their new baby, born thursday at Georgetown Hospital, Washington. It is the fourth boy for the Kennedy’s, who also have two daughters.
FILE – In this May 9, 1968 file photo, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy speaks to the delegates of the United Auto Workers at a convention hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Prosecutors for the first time are not opposing the release of Sirhan Sirhan. The 77-year-old prisoner on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, faces his 16th parole hearing for fatally shooting Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. (AP Photo, File)
FILE – In this June 5, 1968, file photo, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy addresses campaign workers moments before being shot in Los Angeles. At his side are his wife, Ethel, and his California campaign manager, Jesse Unruh, speaker of the California Assembly. Prosecutors for the first time are not opposing the release of Sirhan Sirhan. The 77-year-old prisoner on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, faces his 16th parole hearing for fatally shooting Kennedy in 1968. (AP Photo/Dick Strobel, File)

Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan on June 5, 1968, during a campaign event at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He was killed while walking through the kitchen hallway to greet workers as he exited the building.

Sirhan admitted to killing Kennedy, and his strong anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian beliefs are believed to be part of his motivation.

As with his brother’s death, RFK’s death prompted conspiracy theories, including one suggesting the CIA was behind the assassination. Other theories included the idea of a second gunman, a theory espoused by his son Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now nominated to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services for the Trump administration.

What happened during the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrives in Montgomery, Alabama on March 25th 1965 at the culmination of the Selma to Montgomery March. Pictured from left, Ralph Bunche, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Hosea Williams. (Photo by Morton Broffman/Getty Images)
FILE – The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, speaks to thousands during his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Actor-singer Sammy Davis Jr. is at bottom right. (AP Photo/File)
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King waves to supporters Aug. 28, 1963, on the Mall in Washington, D.C., during the “March on Washington” (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 – 1968) sits on a couch and speaks on the telephone after encountering a white mob protesting against the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, May 26, 1961. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)
FILE – In this June 5, 1964, file photo, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. looks at a glass door of his rented beach cottage in St. Augustine, Fla., that was shot into. The house connected to King is now in the hands of a couple who plans to preserve it. David Manaute and Patti Barry live in the house on the coastline south of St. Augustine. (AP Photo/Jim Kerlin, File)

Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to killing King but later tried to withdraw his guilty plea.

Conspiracy theories have circulated about King’s death, in part prompted by Ray’s claims that his confession had been forced and the revelation of illegal surveillance of King by the FBI and the CIA. The FBI also allegedly attempted to get King to commit suicide.

Some in King’s family also believe that the government and possibly the Mafia were involved in the assassination and that Ray was set up to take the fall.

The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations determined in 1979 that there was a likelihood Ray acted for monetary gain and that there was likely a conspiracy behind the shooting. The committee, however, said it was likely originating from white supremacist groups rather than the government.