Daughter of American civil rights activist Malcolm X says she would sue for $US100 million ($146 million), alleging the FBI, CIA, and NYPD of involvement in her father’s murder.
Ilyasah Shabazz, co-administrator of her father’s estate, claims that they “conspired to and executed their plan to assassinate Malcolm X” and then fraudulently covered it up.
Her initial step was to submit notifications of claim, in which she accuses the agencies of “conspire[ing] with each other and with other individuals and acting, and failing to act, in such a way as to bring about [his] wrongful death.”
This past Tuesday, exactly 58 years to the day after her father was killed, Ms Shabazz held a news conference near the place where Malcolm X was assassinated while addressing a gathering.
Ms Shabazz, then only two years old, was present alongside her mother and sisters.
Ms Shabazz stated on Tuesday, “For years, our family has fought for the truth to come to light concerning his murder,” Ms Shabazz said on Tuesday. “We want justice served for our father. We need to see that our father is given his due.”
With the rise of the Nation of Islam, an African-American Muslim organisation that advocated Black separatism, Malcolm X became the group’s national spokesman.
After more than a decade in the organisation, he openly disassociated himself in 1964, citing disillusionment with the organisation and a desire to moderate some of his former beliefs on racial separation. This angered some members of the Nation of Islam, who subsequently threatened his life.
At the age of 39, he was shot by three gunmen as he stood onstage to give a speech at New York’s Audubon Ballroom.
Some of Malcolm X’s associates later claimed that the government knew about the plot and let it go forward anyhow.
Former Nation of Islam member Talmadge Hayer (also known as Thomas Hagan) admitted guilt in court.
A New York state judge declared a miscarriage of justice in 2021 and overturned the convictions of two more men wrongfully imprisoned for decades for the murder of Malcolm X.
Hayer maintained for a long time that the two guys weren’t guilty and that his collaborators were just other members of the Nation of Islam.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office asked for the men to be released from jail after an investigation revealed that prosecutors and law enforcement agencies had hidden information that would have likely resulted in the men’s acquittal.
Ms Shabazz claimed $US100 million in damages in her notices of claims, which must be served on specific government bodies in accordance with New York law prior to the filing of any litigation.
Lawyer Ben Crump said he planned to take depositions of government officials and on Tuesday he served letters with the agencies she intends to sue based on fresh evidence that has only recently come to light.
The Manhattan district attorney, the NYPD, and the FBI, according to Mr Crump, “had factual evidence, exculpatory evidence that they fraudulently concealed from the men who were wrongfully convicted for the assassination of Malcolm X,” referencing the 2021 exonerations.
“It’s not just about the trigger men, it’s about those who conspired with the trigger men to do this dastardly deed,” he said.
When asked if he thought the government had plotted Malcolm X’s murder, Mr Crump responded: “That is what we are alleging, yes. They infiltrated many civil rights organisations.”
The NYPD stated that it would not provide any further information regarding the ongoing lawsuit. Both the FBI and the CIA were unreachable for comment.
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