Family of Malcolm X plans to Sue NYPD, Government Agencies due to concealed evidence to his murder

(MENAFN) On Tuesday, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump announced the intention of the family of Malcolm X to file a lawsuit against the New York City Police Department and various government agencies. The lawsuit alleges that these entities intentionally concealed evidence related to the murder of Malcolm X, which took place in February 1965 when he was 39 years old. Crump, who appeared at a news conference in Manhattan alongside two of Malcolm X's daughters, stated that the family plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit for $100 million.

According to Crump, the entities named in the lawsuit "had factual evidence 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 judge exonerated two of the three men who had previously been convicted and incarcerated in connection with Malcolm X's murder. The investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office found that Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam were wrongfully convicted. A third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim, admitted to the shooting but said neither Aziz nor Islam was involved.

Crump raised the question of compensation for Malcolm X's daughters, stating, "If the government compensated the two gentlemen that were wrongfully convicted for the assassination of Malcolm X with tens of millions of dollars, then what is to be the compensation for the daughters who suffered the most from the assassination of Malcolm X?" He referenced a settlement the city and state of New York reached with Aziz and Islam's family last year.

Crump announced the lawsuit at The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood. The building, which opened as a memorial site commemorating Malcolm X and Shabazz, previously housed the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was fatally shot. The connection between Malcolm X's death and federal and New York government agencies, including the NYPD, FBI and CIA, has long been contested.

Malcolm X was a minister and human rights advocate who became a prominent leadership figure during the American civil rights movement. He was shot 21 times while preparing to deliver remarks on stage during an event at the Audubon Ballroom. He was meant to address an audience of hundreds, including his wife and daughters, at a gathering of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which he had founded one year earlier.

The family of Malcolm X has accused the NYPD and the FBI of conspiring to have their father assassinated, citing a deathbed letter written by former police officer Raymond Wood in 2011. In the letter, Wood, who was on duty the day of Malcolm X's death, wrote that he "participated in actions that in hindsight were deplorable and detrimental to the advancement of my own black people."

Crump stated, "We intend to have vigorous litigation of this matter, to have discovery, to be able to take depositions of the individuals who are still alive, 58 years later, to make sure that some measure of justice can be given to Malcolm X's daughters." He emphasized that the truth of what happened and who was involved has always been critical. Tuesday marked 58 years since Malcolm X's death.

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