A letter purportedly written by a late New York City police officer claiming that law enforcement was connected to Malcolm X’s death is fake, the officer’s daughter said Friday.
Late officer Raymond Wood’s daughter Kelly Wood told NY1 the letter was forged and that her distant cousin Reggie Wood read the letter at a Feb. 20 press conference to boost his own publicity.
“I know that my father did not write this letter,” Kelly Wood told NY1. “I know that is not his signature and I know the envelope they’re using to somehow justify that the letter was mailed is also a fake.”
Reggie Wood during a news conference to present new evidence in the assassination of civil rights activists Malcolm-X. on February 20, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
The letter, which Reggie Wood said Raymond Wood wrote, stated that the former undercover officer was involved in arresting two people with Malcolm X’s security detail days before his assassination, NY1 reported. The letter said federal officials and the NYPD conspired to arrest the once-violent civil rights leader’s security detail so the hotel ballroom where he would be assassinated would be more accessible, the New York Post reported.
The letter also said the author feared repercussions if he had come forward and asked the letter be revealed after his death, NY1 reported. (RELATED: NYPD, FBI Connected To Malcolm X’s Murder, Letter Released By His Family Alleges)
“My father is not a coward. He would have never, ever asked anyone to speak on his behalf after his passing. If he had something to say, he would have said it when he was alive,” Kelly Wood told NY1.
Kelly Wood added that the letter was a “slanderous act” that stained the “reputation that he worked so to protect,” NY1 reported. Raymond Wood, who was with the NYPD for 21 years and retired as a sergeant died in November 2020.
The Manhattan district attorney is reviewing the investigation and prosecution regarding Malcolm X’s assassination, NY1 reported. The NYPD is cooperating with the investigation and has provided relevant case materials.
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