He is behind some of the most famous photographs taken during the civil rights era.

The one showing Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on board one of the desegregated buses in Montgomery being the most famous.

Others include the photo of black sanitation workers displaying a sign written “I Am a Man” in Memphis, the murder trial of Emmett Till, and the images of Lorraine Hotel’s Room 360 where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Latest revelations however reveal that this famous civil rights photographer was an informer working for the FBI.

This has tainted the legacy and image of Ernest C. Withers who is regarded as one of the iconic photographers during the civil rights revolution.

The stunning revelations came out after two years of investigations and are contained in a publication by The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

It’s said that Mr. Withers who passed way in 2007 at the age of 85 years closely worked with two F.B.I agents in the 60s.

According to Athan Theoharis, a historian working at the University of Marquette, this is a marvelous betrayal that really shows how the F.B.I can infiltrate even the most trusty and influential individuals in the civil rights movement.

It appears that a clerical error made it possible for Mr. Withers’ identity to be masked and in most references, his identification number, ME 338-R, is hidden.

However, there are some instances where the agency forgot to black it out.

Civil rights leaders and members have reacted to this information with disbelief, sadness and disappointment.

Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., a retired minister who planned and participated in several civil rights rallies in the 1960s says that if the findings are true, Mr. Ernie had ill-treated their friendship.

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