2/9: Suppressed Surveillance And Phone Logs Raise Fresh Doubts On MLK Killing
Newly surfaced federal records reveal major inconsistencies and suppressions in surveillance data surrounding the April 4, 1968, assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., including missing telephone logs, withheld Army intelligence photographs, and secret post-operation briefings involving multiple U.S. agencies.
One Bell Systems technician’s field note, dated April 5, 1968, referenced unusual multipoint call routing through lines tied to the rooming house allegedly used by James Earl Ray. The memo stated: spike on Line 3 noted from 17:58–18:06 CST, unusually active; second patch noted 18:19. Tapes secured to HQ under ‘directive’ protocol.
Another margin note in a technician’s log read: local switchboard flagged duplicate ringing on Rooms 2A and 4C. Backtrace suggested party line deviation--unresolved.
Military involvement also loomed large. Internal FBI dispatches referenced Army photographers stationed near the Lorraine Motel in Memphis during the evening of the assassination.
Yet no footage or stills were entered into the public archive. A memo marked April 4, 22:00, said: Army camera team deployed SW of motel. No tape returned to evidence chain. File ID: ‘Withdrawn-1357A’.
Simultaneously, a series of orders from the Memphis Police Division directing officers to vacate posts around the Lorraine Motel included a handwritten notation: Per FED LIAISON, JCN 3-4-68.
The reference to a federal contact suggests that MPD withdrawal was not a local decision, contradicting long-held assumptions that there was no federal interference in local deployment.
A second surveillance gap came from hotel logs. The Fire Station and YMCA building--each with sniper sightlines to the Lorraine balcony--recorded guest check-ins under false names.
The logs were later redacted. One FBI field report noted: guest record 'J. Hunt' checked into YMCA April 3. Name not in Bureau database. Entry line redacted in copy sent to DOJ.
Equally alarming was a COINTELPRO document from April 6, 1968, recovered in 1980, which included the instruction: consider limited leak for distraction.
The document was issued three days before Ray’s name was made public, suggesting strategic control over narrative release. No indication was provided of what the “distraction” referred to.
Internal memos also confirmed a “Post-Op Debrief” occurred on April 10 involving representatives from the FBI, DOJ, and Army Intelligence.
The location was listed only as undisclosed. No transcripts or agendas from this debrief were ever released, nor was the meeting acknowledged in official timelines.
FBI surveillance of Dr. King had supposedly ended in early 1968 after public backlash. But a classified interagency circular dated March 29 refers to King as an escalating liability for urban containment protocols.
This language implies that King remained under close watch--possibly justifying the continuation of covert monitoring.
One CIA intercept, dated March 28, flagged a message from Bangkok routed via a Soviet attache, warning of “political destabilization in the U.S. South involving high-profile target.”
The intercept was routed eyes-only and was never disseminated beyond internal intelligence circles.
Finally, an FBI internal discrepancy surfaced regarding James Earl Ray himself. A field memo referred to alternate profiles of Ray and the consideration that he may have been a manipulated courier.
This was bolstered by language in a separate memo: subject possibly uninformed participant. Evaluate asset handling scenario.
Together, these overlooked or deliberately obscured data points point to a surveillance mosaic with critical blind spots -- some created by protocol, others perhaps by design. Despite being one of the most intensively documented events in U.S. history, the assassination of Dr. King continues to reveal layers of intelligence suppression that have yet to be publicly or legally accounted for.