The family of slain civil rights leader Malcolm X announced their intention to file a $100 million lawsuit against police and government agencies for allegedly concealing evidence related to his assassination.
Malcolm X was shot 21 times while preparing to give a speech at the Audubon Ballroom for the Organization of Afro-American Unity in New York City on Feb. 21, 1965, according to CBS News. On Tuesday, 58 years to the date of his assassination, the civil right’s leader’s daughters and their attorney gathered at the site of his murder to announce a lawsuit against the FBI and CIA, as well as the New York City Police Department, CBS News reported.
Malcolm X’s family to sue CIA, FBI, NYPD for wrongful death https://t.co/07mdOpCh8s
— Matthew Alvarez (@MatthewCBS7) February 22, 2023
“The connection between his death and federal and New York government agencies, including the NYPD, FBI and CIA has long been contested,” the family’s attorney Ben Crump said, according to CBS News. “The governmental agencies had factual and exculpatory evidence that they fraudulently concealed from the family of Malcolm X and the men wrongly convicted of crimes surrounding the assassination of Malcolm X.”
In 2021, State Supreme Court Judge Ellen Biben absolved two of three men originally charged with Malcolm X’s murder after an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office found they had been wrongfully convicted, CBS News reported. In a settlement relating to the wrongful conviction, New York City and the state of New York agreed to pay a total of $36 million to the two men — Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam, according to ABC News.
Crump pointed to the settlement and asked if the state could award millions to two men wrongfully convicted of Malcom X’s murder, then the same should hold true for those who suffered the most from the civil right’s leader’s death, namely his daughters, CBS News reported.
Crump alleged that government and law enforcement officials conspired to kill Malcom X, mentioning J. Edgar Hoover multiple times, the outlet stated. His comments follow accusations made by Malcolm X’s daughters two years ago citing a deathbed confession from police officer Raymond Wood in Jan. 2011. In that letter, Wood reportedly wrote he “participated in actions that in hindsight were deplorable and detrimental to the advancement of my own black people,” CBS News reported.
“Under the direction of my handlers, I was told to encourage leaders and members of the civil rights groups to commit felonious acts,” Wood continued, according to CBS News. (RELATED: Letter Connecting Law Enforcement To Malcolm X’s Death Is Fake, NYPD Officer’s Daughter Says)
Malcolm X’s daughters argue that the remaining questions surrounding their father’s death should be answered and hope this lawsuit will help achieve them.
“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,” Ilyasah Shabazz stated, according to ABC News. “The truth about the circumstances leading to the death of our father is important – not only to his family, but to many followers, many admirers … And it is our hope that litigation of this case will finally provide some unanswered questions. We want justice served for our father,” Shabazz continued.