US civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. allegedly “looked on and laughed” as a Baptist minister friend raped a woman, according to FBI records accessed by an American historian.

Writing in a piece due to be published shortly in Britain’s Standpoint magazine, King biographer and historian David Garrow said he came across the accusation in FBI summaries of archived agency tapes still held under court seal, the Sunday Times writes.

Garrow also reportedly found sordid details from FBI recordings made when it bugged King’s room at a Washington hotel in 1964, including that he had affairs with dozens of women. One of the memos based on the tapes claims the civil rights leader joked to his friends that he “had started the ‘International Association for the Advancement of P***y-Eaters.’”

In an editorial explaining its decision to publish Garrow’s claims, Standpoint described King as “the Harvey Weinstein of the civil rights movement.”

Manchester Square column from June's Standpoint - out this Thursday - on why we decided to publish David J Garrow's #MeToo revelations about Martin Luther King, as reported in today's Sunday Times pic.twitter.com/54Jl98i2x2 — Standpoint Magazine (@StandpointMag) May 26, 2019

Twitter users weren’t sure what to make of the outrageous claims, with some suggesting it might be time to take down memorials honoring King, with others suggesting it’s a poor attempt at character assassination.

A number of commenters wondered if his statues would be removed now like monuments to the Civil War South generals, especially as the accusations hit a nerve with the movement against sexual harassment.

Time for some statue removals?FBI tapes show Martin Luther King Jr had 40 affairs and 'laughed' as friend raped parishioner | Daily Mail Online https://t.co/aeLcPX7OhL — Nick DiPaolo (@NickDiPaolo) 26 мая 2019 г.

So how soon until sjws and the Mee Too Movement demand MLK Day be canceled? Martin Luther King Jr had 40 affairs and laughed as friend raped woman https://t.co/NVeMcSBYh1 via @MailOnline — seantbrown87 (@seantbrown87) 26 мая 2019 г.

While some expressed shock over the revelations, others commented that the fact that King was no saint is well-known.

Martin Luther King Jr had 40 affairs and laughed as friend raped woman https://t.co/D1y3DJeusg via @MailOnline What seriously? Are there truly no HEROIC male role models, FBI didnt stop the rape?? Tony Robbins, MLK starting to make TRUMP look like a saint! — Dr.Laraki@health.com (@DrLaraki) 26 мая 2019 г.

They always knew this. The public was lied to about who Martin Luther King was to make his agenda more palatable. — Lochlan (@weldingbear2) 26 мая 2019 г.

While others were outraged over the smearing campaign.

Posthumous character assassination.. — Anders Barasa (@BarasaAnders) May 26, 2019

Revelations about the scale of Dr King's womanizing only add to his story and don't diminish his greatness. And if you airbrush him, who *was* the prime mover of American civil rights? #MLK#MartinLutherKing#MeToopic.twitter.com/Nn6LFGCh0r — Tony Walton (@OneWatTyler) 26 мая 2019 г.