More than 50 years after his death, the family of Malcolm X has decided to press charges on official investigative agencies over his murder. The agencies that are being sued are the city of New York, the state of New York, the New York Police Department (NYPD), the FBI, and the CIA.
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According to Ilyasah Shabazz, his daughter, these agencies have concealed evidence and had even conspired to assassinate her father. This announcement was made by her at the site where her father was shot 21 times by three men. Benjamin Crump, the lawyer representing the family, said that powerful American figures, including the government, had conspired to kill him. The family seeks to file a wrongful death lawsuit, seeking damages of $100 million.
In a statement, Shahbazz said, ‘For years our family has fought for the truth to come to light concerning his murder, and we’d like our father to receive the justice that he deserves.’
Who was Malcolm X?
Malcolm X was an American Muslim activist who strived for separatism for black Americans. He was also a vocal advocate for the promotion of Islam within the black community. After being released from prison, Malcolm played a crucial role in leading the Nation of Islam. He was also a founder of the newspaper, ‘Muhammad Speaks’ which he started in the basement of his home.
He founded and was also the minister of Boston Temple No. 11, and later proceeded to become the minister of Temple No. 7. At that point, Temple No. 7 was the most prestigious temple in the Nation.
He played a crucial role in the civil rights movement from 1955 to 1965 as he became the voice of Black Americans who actually expressed the anger and frustration that their community was going through. He slowly became an intimidating critic of American society and leaders of that time, including challenging the notions of Martin Luther King Jr. He left the Nation in March 1964 to found Muslim Mosque Inc. Him leaving the Nation, caused some hostility and anger among the members.
His Death
The hostility between Malcolm and the Nation resulted in him getting frequent death threats and even open cases of violence took place against him. Malcolm was assassinated on 21st February,
1965, while delivering a talk at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights. He at that time, was 39 years old and Shahbazz was 2 years old. The assassination of Malcolm has been entrenched in speculation since.
The aftermath
At the time, three men belonging to the Nation of Islam, were arrested. Talmadge Hayer, had even admitted in court to being one of the assassins of Malcolm. A New York State judge overturned the convictions of Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam, the two other men arrested for the assassination, in 2021. Even Hayer had admitted that those men were innocent and that his accomplices were other Nation of Islam members. There were investigations, however, that proved that prosecutors and law enforcement agencies had withheld information that would have likely led to the acquittal of the two men.
The city of New York agreed to pay $26 million, with the state of New York paying an additional $10 million to settle the lawsuit on behalf of Aziz and Islam.
A two year probe, which was headed by district attorney Cy Vance and attorneys David Shanies and Deb Francois and the Innocence Project has found documents that the FBI had failed to disclose surrounding the involvement of Aziz and Islam in the murder of Malcolm X.
The NYPD has refused to comment on the pending litigation, while the FBI and CIA has still not commented on the charges pressed against them.