What specific things did he do to discredit Dr. King?

In collaboration with the F.B.I., he laundered some of their counterintelligence for them. So for example, the F.B.I. would pass along some information to him on King about, perhaps, King being a communist, and then Michaux would, of course, scrub that intelligence and present it in some of his broadcasts or sermons. In all, what he does is he colludes with the F.B.I. to preach sermons that discredit Martin Luther King and also even engage in a protest of Martin Luther King that was cleared by the F.B.I.

What were some lines of attack that Elder Michaux took against Dr. King?

On the same day that the F.B.I. writes a memo that says that King is the most dangerous Negro in the world, on that same day they reach out to Michaux and he preaches a sermon against the March on Washington. So the March on Washington has already occurred and, about a month later, Michaux preaches a sermon criticizing the March on Washington and questioning King’s religious commitments. The sermon basically says that King, his religious commitments are questionable, and this whole entire dream that Martin Luther King has will never ever happen and will never come about by marching and protesting. But it will only come about by sort of seeking the Christian conversion of individuals in America.

And it questioned his motivations, right?

The sermon says that King is being motivated not by the Bible, not by religion, but by something else. And of course the F.B.I. is distributing throughout Washington that King is a communist. And so the sermon is sort of used to sort of provide air cover for the kind of counterintelligence the F.B.I. is engaging in as it relates to Martin Luther King.

Were there other times when Elder Michaux was used to further criticize or delegitimize Dr. King?

A second moment is when Martin Luther King and J. Edgar Hoover have a public spat. King tells a New York Times reporter that the F.B.I. cannot sort of investigate segregation if the F.B.I. has segregationists in it. He questions the F.B.I. and their commitments to racial justice and equality. Eventually, Hoover responds by saying that Martin Luther King is the most notorious liar in the country and that King should not be trusted. So when they have this public spat, the F.B.I. reaches out to Michaux and, again, he obliges and helps them. He writes an open letter, releases it to the media, to the newswires at the time, saying that it was Martin Luther King’s fault, and that Hoover is a good Christian servant who is working to ensure the morality of the nation.

He has help from the F.B.I. in constructing this letter. He’s given information illegally by the F.B.I., inserts it into the letter, sort of vouching for the F.B.I.’s efforts in racial justice.

And finally in 1965 he engages in a protest. Martin Luther King is fresh from the march at Selma. He is then in Baltimore with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, planning their summer plans, and Michaux reaches out to the F.B.I., let’s them know that he’s going to be protesting outside the hotel. So about 100 members of his congregation — between 100, 125, according to The New York Times — are outside marching, protesting King with signs such as “Communist termites are inside” and “God save America.”

What do you think is the big takeaway now?

We have these African-Americans who are part of this evangelical advisory board in the executive branch. At the same time, we know from documents that have recently been released by the F.B.I. that the executive branch is overseeing the Department of Justice and the F.B.I., who are following Black Lives Matter protesters. I think it allows us to see how these televangelists, who make connections with the executive branch, can be used as religious cover for what the F.B.I. and the executive branch more broadly wants to do.

As April 4th rolls around, we’ll see Trump and, I’m sure, ministers across the country who will be praising Martin Luther King, praising his ministry, mourning his untimely death. But yet their policies and their commitments will be really far from Martin Luther King. In actuality, I think we’ll see they’re in a tradition with Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux.