Why are people so obsessed with praising Martin Luther King Jr. for being supposedly neutral when he was actually radical — especially when they conspired heavily against him and had him under constant surveillance? Oh wait, that wasn’t the public, per se; that was the FBI.

On April 4, the FBI tweeted this to commemorate the anniversary of the civil rights leader’s murder:

Today, on the anniversary of his assassination, the FBI honors the life, work, & commitment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to justice. pic.twitter.com/WZInYKQx2g

— FBI (@FBI) April 4, 2017

The idealistic quote they used was from King’s 1968 speech in the Washington National Cathedral, which reads: “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Using this quote only furthers the historical whitewashing of King’s legacy as it seems overwhelmingly neutral, complacent and ultimately, unthreatening.

But that isn’t the biggest problem here.

Twitter users immediately fired back, reminding everyone that the FBI had been heavily surveilling, blackmailing and successfully neutralizing King’s work.

And they’re right.

The FBI hypocritically captioned the tweet saying that they are, “honor(ing) the life, work, & commitment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to justice.”

FBI director J. Edgar Hoover spearheaded the tracking, surveillance and overall sabotaging of civil rights leaders such as the Black Panther Party, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hoover also gathered various secret files against any and all activists in order to blackmail and discredit them.

After the March on Washington in 1963, where King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, the FBI followed King closer than ever before because he was the “most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country,” according to an FBI memo.

The many FBI memos that mentioned King detail various strategies to end the civil rights leader’s work.

“FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover filed a request with Attorney General Robert Kennedy to tap King’s and his associates’ phones and to bug their homes and offices” reported CNN. “Kennedy gave the FBI permission to break into King’s office and home to install the bugs.”

And that is only a small taste of how relentless the FBI was in their efforts to stop King. They harassed him until he was murdered in 1968 — a murder in which many believe that the FBI facilitated. After that, the FBI continued to neutralize his and his supporters’ efforts.

The FBI claiming that they are honoring King is dishonorable. Since they know the history of the bureau’s plot to destroy King along with his legacy, they should just keep quiet on the anniversary of his murder and avoid embarrassing themselves even further.

Tatiana is a freshman in Media.

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