Uncovered Documents Show FBI Was Spying On Coretta Scott King

The American Civil Liberties Union today issued a call to change FBI spying guidelines after documents were released revealing that the FBI spied on Coretta Scott King, after the death of her husband Rev.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in an attempt to stem the civil rights movement. After the government was criticized for spying on Dr. King, the FBI was prohibited from spying on Americans. But in 2002 former Attorney General John Ashcroft changed the guidelines to permit the FBI to spy on individuals in public places.

Atlanta, Aug. 31: Today, Martin Luther King
III and Elder Bernice A. King issued the following statement regarding the release of FBI materials related to Coretta Scott King:

"While we are still grieving the passing of our mother, it is unfortunate that the FBI chose to publicly release illegal surveillance undertaken by the federal government of our family, especially because our parents were always striving to elevate the quality of human life by eliminating what they identified as the triple evils of poverty, racism, and war, which still plague our world. For the sake of this and future generations we will continue to focus on eliminating these social injustices and we would hope that the nation will do so as well."