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Newly Available FBI Records Show Martin Luther King Jr Laughed While His Friend Raped A Woman; Had Dozens Of Affairs
Swarajya Staff
Jun 07, 2019, 02:51 PM | Updated 02:51 PM IST
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Documents from recently declassified FBI records released for the first time show a previously unknown side to famous African-American civil rights activist Dr Martin Luther King Jr, detailing his extramarital affairs with several dozen women, among other troubling information, reports Standpoint.
A transcript of a tape recording reveals an incident in which King apparently looked on and laughed as one of his friends, a Christian priest, allegedly raped one of the women from his parish in a hotel room. The note in the transcript adds that he even offered advice to his friend while he was assaulting the woman.
The agency’s documents have also revealed an instance of its then director J Edgar Hoover intimating to King that they held records about about his sexual indiscretions, encouraging him to commit suicide.
The FBI ultimately managed to get permission to wiretap King’s home and other establishments over suspicion of him being linked to the Communist Party of USA.
Although a limited amount of information on the FBI’s tracking of King is available at present, the full set of archives is not due to be released till 2027 as per a previous court order.
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