FBI Monitored Communist Ties in MLK Mourning Events; Declassified Docs Reveal Political Surveillance Post-Assassination

Newly declassified documents dated April 5, 1968—just one day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.--reveal that the FBI was closely monitoring political activities surrounding mourning events, particularly those organized by Communist Party affiliates and left-wing organizations in Miami. 

Image Source: FBI Boston on X

The memo offers a rare window into how intelligence agencies viewed public grief as a potential national security flashpoint.

According to the memo sent to Director J. Edgar Hoover and circulated to key bureau officials including Clyde Tolson, William Sullivan, and Mark Felt, FBI informants embedded within the Miami Communist Party reported the formation of a “Coordinating Committee” just hours after King’s murder. 

The group convened on the evening of April 4 and immediately launched efforts to organize mass marches and memorials for King, with explicit calls for civil disobedience.

The committee encouraged its members to contact peace groups, senior citizens’ groups, and pro-Eugene McCarthy organizations, urging them to protest King’s death and demand the apprehension of the “murderer or murderers” before any legal closure. 

Demonstrators were also encouraged to wear black armbands in mourning, and stage protests in front of the Tennessee state government.

The documents, tagged “URGENT” and copied to the White House and Attorney General, indicate that federal agencies viewed these activities as potential catalysts for broader unrest. 

While the FBI memo does not accuse the Communist Party of orchestrating King’s assassination, it reflects the agency's acute sensitivity--and arguably paranoia--toward leftist mobilization during a volatile civil rights era.

Significantly, these surveillance notes were compiled not to track violent threats but to inform high-level officials about political organizing and dissent. 

This raises enduring civil liberties concerns about COINTELPRO-style overreach and the use of government machinery to surveil lawful expressions of public grief and protest.

While much attention has focused on King’s assassination and its immediate investigation, this release shows how the federal response wasn’t limited to catching the killer—it extended to monitoring those mourning him.