Ilyasah Shabazz, a daughter of Malcolm X, second from right, speaks during a news conference at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in New York, Feb. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
One of the daughters of Malcolm X is now suing the CIA, FBI, and New York City Police Department over the murder of her father.
On Feb. 21, the 58th anniversary of Malcolm X’s death, Ilyasah Shabazz and her attorney, well-known civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, had a press conference at the site of her father’s assassination, now a memorial to Malcolm X, to announce a $100 million lawsuit against the CIA, FBI, and NYPD.
Malcolm X, who later adopted the name Malik el-Shabazz, was gunned down as he prepared to speak at New York’s Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on Feb. 21, 1965. He was 39 years old when three men with guns shot him onstage. Two of the men arrested at the time for his murder have since been exonerated. It has been well documented that various U.S. government intelligence agencies had the civil rights activist under surveillance.
Malcolm X and his wife, Betty Shabazz, had six daughters–Malikah Shabazz, Ilyasah Shabazz, Gamilah Lumumba Shabazz, Qubilah Shabazz, Attallah Shabazz, and Malaak Shabazz. Shabazz was two years old when her father was killed. The entire family was in the audience at the time of his assassination.
Some associates of Malcolm X said they believed various government agencies were aware of the assassination plan and allowed it to happen.
Ilyasah Shabazz is accusing various federal and New York government agencies of fraudulently concealing evidence that they “conspired to and executed their plan to assassinate Malcolm X.”
“For years, our family has fought for the truth to come to light concerning his murder,” she said at the news conference.
Malcolm X was a prominent national spokesperson of the Nation of Islam, but at the time of his death, he had already split from the organization after more than a decade with the group. He broke with it in 1964 and publicly issued opposing views on racial separation, which angered some Nation of Islam members, and had received death threats.
Nation of Islam member Talmadge Haye confessed in court to being one of three assassins. In 2021, a New York state judge threw out the convictions of two other men–Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam. In October 2022, the city of New York settled lawsuits filed on behalf of Aziz and Islam, agreeing to pay $26 million for their wrongful convictions. The state of New York also agreed to pay an additional $10 million.
Shabazz is suing based on new information that only recently came to light, according to Crump.
“It’s not just about the trigger men, it’s about those who conspired with the trigger men to do this dastardly deed,” Crump said at the news conference., CBC reported.
The notices of claims, which is the legal precursor to lawsuits against certain government agencies, allege that city and the feds “conspired with each other and with other individuals and acted, and failed to act, in such a way as to bring about the wrongful death of Malcolm X,” The New York Post reported.
City and federal officials “fraudulently concealed direct evidence and exculpatory evidence that they conspired to and executed their plan to assassinate Malcolm X,” the papers claim.
As a result of the gross negligence by the law enforcement agencies, “Malcolm X was robbed of his life and freedom,” and Shabazz “was robbed of her father,” the legal notices allege.
The New York Police Department, FBI, and the CIA have yet to comment.
Ilyasah Shabazz, a daughter of Malcolm X, second from right, speaks during a news conference at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in New York, Feb. 21, 2023. Some of Malcom X’s family members and their attorneys announced their intent to sue governmental agencies for Malcom X’s assassination and the fraudulent concealment of evidence surrounding the murder. In 1965, minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
