Documentary probes when FBI bugged MLK

NKW YORK » The opening images of the documentary “MLK/FBI” include footage from the 1963 march on the Washington Mall that, today, is all the more striking for the protesters’ peacefulness.

The march culminated in one of the most indelible moments of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a

Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. And as familiar as the scene is, it could hardly stand in starker contrast to the recent U.S. Capitol riot. Here is a mass of humanity assembled in the nonviolent spirit of the movement’s leader.

Yet only two days later, on Aug. 28, 1963, the FBI’s head of domestic intelligence, William C. Sullivan, sounded an internal alarm on King.

“MLK/FBI,” which IFC

Films will release in theaters and on-demand Friday, chronicles one of the darkest chapters in the bureau’s history: the yearslong surveillance and harassment of King. Where others saw a leader of the highest order, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI saw a suspect — a potential communist and a threat to white America.

Details have gradually emerged on the FBI’s investigation, which was carried out with approval from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and later, with the support of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Some FBI documents have been released over the years, though much remains heavily redacted. “MLK/FBI” is based on the 1981 book “The FBI and Martin Luther King Jr.: From ‘Solo’ to Memphis” by David Garrow, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1986 biography of King, “Bearing the Cross.”