The United States has declassified documents on the assassination of the 35th American President, John F. Kennedy. This was reported by the US National Archives and Records Administration.
The package of documents on the Kennedy assassination includes about 80,000 pages of classified records, which are now being published without editing. Larry Sabato, author of Half a Century of Kennedy and a lecturer, says it will take time to analyze them.
However, the released files are unlikely to contain an “information bomb,” CNN notes. From what the source has analyzed, there is nothing that could change the current conclusion about the Kennedy assassination – that lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald is responsible for his death.
Many files related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy have already been disclosed, in particular during the previous administration of US President Joe Biden. However, many documents published on March 18 had previously been redacted.
- John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was killed on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. He was fatally shot while traveling in the presidential motorcade. The bullet hit Kennedy in the neck and head as he was riding in an open car with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and his wife.
According to the official version, the shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, opened fire from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building. Oswald was arrested on the same day, but two days later, he was killed by Dallas resident Jack Ruby, which complicated the investigation. There are still many white spots in the case.
In addition, documents about the assassination of John F. Kennedy’s brother Robert, and the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. were declassified. Most of the records related to these cases have been published before. However, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon, and the State Department refused to release some documents due to secrecy concerns and the need to protect confidential sources that may still be alive.
- Martin Luther King, a younger, prominent human rights activist, was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel, where he was campaigning in support of striking sanitation workers.
A sniper bullet hit him in the head, and he died in the hospital. Officially, James Earl Ray is believed to be the killer, who pleaded guilty but later tried to recant his confession, claiming that he had been framed. King’s death sparked mass protests and riots across the United States.
- Senator Robert F. Kennedy, brother of John F. Kennedy, was shot on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles. He died the next day. This happened immediately after winning the California primary as part of his presidential campaign.
After giving a speech at the Ambassador Hotel, Kennedy was walking through the kitchen when he was shot, according to the official version, by a Palestinian man named Sirhan Sirhan. Sirhan was sentenced to life in prison. This case, as well as the two previous ones, remains full of inaccuracies.
During his campaign for a second presidential term, Donald Trump repeatedly said that he would publish all documents on the assassinations of the two Kennedys and Martin Luther King if he managed to return to the White House. In fact, he fulfilled this campaign promise.