Manhattan federal court lawsuit alleges law enforcement negligence in protecting individual and hindering identification of killers.
Nearly six decades following the assassination of Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, his family has taken legal action by filing a federal lawsuit alleging the involvement of the New York Police Department, C.I.A., and F.B.I. in his murder. The lawsuit, lodged in Manhattan, contends that these agencies were aware of threats against the civil rights leader but failed to act to protect him. It asserts that they deliberately withdrew their officers from the ballroom before the shooting, leaving Malcolm X vulnerable. Additionally, the suit claims that the agencies engaged in a cover-up after his death by withholding information from his family and obstructing efforts to identify the perpetrators.
Despite three men being arrested and convicted for the assassination, two of them, Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, were later found to be innocent after spending over two decades in prison. The third individual, Thomas Hagan, was paroled in 2010. Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s third-eldest daughter, expressed during a news conference announcing the lawsuit that it has been a lengthy journey to reach this point.
Source: The NY Times
