Malcolm X Family Alleges Concealing of Evidence in His Wrongful Death

On Tuesday, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and family members of Malcolm X announced their intention to file a lawsuit against the New York City Police Department and various government agencies.

Crump appeared at a press conference in Manhattan with two of Malcolm X's daughters, Qubilah Shabazz and Ilyasah Shabazz, to deliver what he termed "formal notice" of the legal complaint to the city of New York, the state of New York, the NYPD, the district attorney's office, and various federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and CIA.

Malcolm X's Family to Sue FBI, CIA, and NYPD

The attorney for Malcolm X's family stated that the family intends to file a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that the entities named "had factual and exculpatory evidence that they fraudulently concealed from the men who were wrongfully convicted for the assassination of Malcolm X."

In 2021, a state Supreme Court justice exonerated two of the three individuals previously convicted and imprisoned in connection with the murder of Malcolm X, as per CBS News. After a two-year inquiry by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Muhammad A. Aziz, then 83 years old, and Khalil Islam, who has since passed away, were determined to have been unlawfully convicted.

A third individual, Mujahid Abdul Halim, acknowledged the shooting, but neither Aziz nor Islam was engaged. The case was announced at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center in Washington Heights, New York. The structure now serves as a memorial to Malcolm X and his late wife, Shabazz, was formerly the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was tragically murdered on February 21, 1965. It has been 58 years since his death on Tuesday.

Two individuals were exonerated in 2021 after a re-investigation of their cases revealed that the evidence used to secure their convictions was insufficient and that authorities withheld facts.

Ilyasah Shabazz, the co-administrator of her father's estate, filed notifications of claim, which is the first stage in the process, stating that the agencies "conspired with one other and with other persons and acted, and failed to act, in such a way as to cause Malcolm X's wrongful death."

Emails were addressed to the CIA, FBI, Department of Justice, and New York City's legal department for comment. Per AP News, Crump mentioned the anniversary date and stated, "There has been suspicion regarding the killing of Malcolm X ever since."

Malcolm X Wrongful Death

Invoking the 2021 exonerations, he asserted that government institutions, including the Manhattan district attorney, the NYPD, and the FBI, "had factual information, exculpatory material that they fraudulently suppressed from the men who were unlawfully convicted for the killing of Malcolm X."

Crump responded affirmatively when asked if he believes federal entities collaborated to kill Malcolm. "They infiltrated a large number of civil rights groups," he said. Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam, the two men exonerated in the 1965 killing of Malcolm X, earned a $36 million settlement in October 2022, following the filing of litigation against the city and state of New York in 2021.

New York City agreed to pay $26 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of posthumously exonerated murder suspects Aziz and Islam. Meanwhile, New York state agreed to pay an extra $10 million. The two-year investigation conducted by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, attorneys David Shanies and Deb Francois, and the Innocence Project revealed that the FBI refused to disclose materials that cast doubt on Aziz and Islam's role in the assassination of Malcolm X.

Vance questioned how law enforcement handled the case and stated that the inquiry indicated that several witnesses were directed not to identify as FBI informants by then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Last year, Vance apologized on behalf of law enforcement for "grave, inexcusable abuses of the law and the public's confidence," ABC News reported.