FBI diss-honor
Hails King on slay anniversary though it hounded him in life
THE FBI, on the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination Tuesday, tweeted a tribute to the slain civil rights leader, despite long-held conspiracy theories that the domestic spy agency had a hand in King’s death.
“Today, on the anniversary of his assassination, the FBI honors the life, work, & commitment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to justice.” the FBI tweeted from its official account.
The post included one of King’s favorite quotes about morality and justice.
“We shall overcome,” King said in the tweeted quote, “because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Both quotes are far cries from what J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director during the height of the civil rights movement, said about the man he repeatedly tried to discredit.
“Dr. Martin Luther King is the most notorious liar in the country,” Hoover said ahead of King’s 1964 trip to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace.
The FBI was also behind unprecedented surveillance of King, and was believed to have been the author of a blackmail letter urging the preacher and activist to kill himself, a suspicion later confirmed by a Senate committee.
The letter was reportedly accompanied by tapes of King’s alleged extramarital affairs.
“King, there is only one thing left for you to do,” the letter said. “You know what it is.”
The smear campaign was part of the FBI’s COINTELPRO — or Counterintelligence program — which was launched in 1956 to disrupt the activities of the Communist Party.
The FBI tribute on Tuesday set off a social media backlash.
“You have no f---ing right to coopt the legacy of Dr. King nearly 50 years after you murdered him,” tweeted John Weiss, a writer and filmmaker.
“You shld have protected Civil Rights leaders, instead of running COINTELPRO smear campaign.” wrote Twitter user Kyle Linhares. “Evers, X, King might still be alive if you had.”
The FBI issued a similar tweet this year on King’s birthday.
“Today, the FBI honors the Rev. Martin L. King Jr. and his incredible career fighting for civil rights. #MLKDAY,” the agency said at the time.
That tweet was accompanied by a quote from King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail.”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Tuesday was also the 50th anniversary of King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech at Manhattan’s Riverside Church.
King, 39, was killed by an assassin outside a Memphis motel room on April 4, 1968, while organizing a protest for striking sanitation workers.