The FBI’s attempt to honor the late Martin Luther King Jr., in a tweet Monday immediately drew widespread mockery from Twitter users.
Then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover launched an investigation into King that lasted several years and involved wiretapping the civil rights leader. Hoover himself was exceptionally hostile toward King, even going so far as to call King the “most notorious liar in the country.”
The FBI also sent King a blackmail tape of him “carousing in a Washington, D.C., hotel room,” as well as a tape encouraging him to commit suicide, according to the King Institute.
“On this 40th anniversary of #MLKDay as a federal holiday, the #FBI honors one of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement and reaffirms its commitment to Dr. King’s legacy of fairness and equal justice for all,” the bureau tweeted. (RELATED: Joy Reid Explains How Corrupt The FBI Is, Then Shames Republicans For Not Trusting The Agency)
On this 40th anniversary of #MLKDay as a federal holiday, the #FBI honors one of the most prominent leaders of the Civil Rights movement and reaffirms its commitment to Dr. King’s legacy of fairness and equal justice for all. pic.twitter.com/yXqVRyicTU
— FBI (@FBI) January 16, 2023
The replies weren’t particularly kind.
The Libertarian Party called the FBI’s post “total farce.”
“Honors him? You violated his privacy through warrantless wiretapping and tried to convince him to commit suicide. Your honors are a total farce,” the party tweeted.
Honors him? You violated his privacy through warrantless wiretapping and tried to convince him to commit suicide.
Your honors are a total farce.
— Libertarian Party (@LPNational) January 16, 2023
Executive editor of the Washington Examiner Magazine Seth Mandel tweeted a gif warning the FBI to be “careful.”
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) January 16, 2023
Deputy managing editor at Red State, Brandon Morse, tweeted that the bureau “shouldn’t virtue signal standing on this particular grave.”
I think maybe you shouldn’t virtue signal standing on this particular grave, don’t you?
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) January 16, 2023
The New Hampshire Libertarian Party was even more forward, telling the FBI to “STFU.”
STFU, @FBI. pic.twitter.com/jYBXwtHrXc
— Libertarian Party NH (@LPNH) January 16, 2023
Other users jumped on the bandwagon, poking fun at the tweet and even implying that the FBI had a hand in King’s assassination.
“Why would someone kill Dr King?” pic.twitter.com/y8fED6ICg6
— C-Guy (@cgfirebrand) January 16, 2023
— Hit Factory Podcast (@HitFactoryPod) January 16, 2023