Recently, the historic Black activist Malcolm X’s children brought forward a $100 million suit against the Department of Justice (DOJ), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and the New York Police Department (NYPD). They allege that these agencies played a role in the assassination of Malcolm in 1965. The lawsuit includes claims of excessive use of force against Malcolm X, deliberate creation of danger, failure to protect, denial of access to the courts for Malcolm X’s family, conspiracy, fraudulent concealment and wrongful death.
Malcolm X, formerly Malcolm Little, was a major figure within the civil rights and Black power movements of the 1960’s. He was a passionate firebrand who spoke against the oppression of Black people.
While initially he was a leader of the Black Muslim organization, the Nation Of Islam, rifts began to develop between the leader of the organization, Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm. Malcolm was pushed out of, and moved away from the Nation of Islam. He participated in a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and his worldview started to evolve from a more narrow form of Black nationalism towards a more radical philosophy that saw the liberation of Black people linked to the liberation of all who were oppressed by imperialism and capitalism.
He famously said, “…in my opinion, the young generation of whites, blacks, browns, whatever else there is, you’re living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution, a time when there’s got to be a change, people in power have misused it, and now there has to be a change. And a better world has to be built and the only way it’s going to be built is with extreme methods. And I, for one, will join in with anyone – don’t care what color you are – as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth.”
Malcolm publicly announced his exit from the Nation of Islam in March of 1964. During that tumultuous period, Malcolm received death threats from the Nation. There was also tremendous police surveillance during this entire period.
Malcolm X was killed on February 21st, 1965 at the Audobon Ballroom in New York City when three men associated with the Nation Of Islam are alleged to have opened fire on him as he was giving a speech. He was 39 years old.
In the following days, 14,000 to 30,000 people came to visit his body in the casket in a public viewing in Harlem. The movement grieved as it lost one of its brightest minds and most passionate fighters.
For the more than two decades in prison, the two men, Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, both maintained innocence and were ultimately exonerated. The other man, Talmadge Hayer, confessed to killing Malcolm and was later paroled in 2010. But it would be naive to argue that Hayer acted alone.
In the following decades, more and more information came out confirming what people had speculated for a long time – that agencies like the FBI engaged in large scale infiltration of movement organizations to gather information as well as stir up conflicts through its Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO).
According to the lawsuit that is now brought forward by Malcom X’s family, the NYPD, coordinating with federal law enforcement agencies, arrested Malcolm’s security detail days before the assassination, and intentionally removed police officers from inside the ballroom where Malcolm X was killed. They claim that government agencies had knowledge of credible threats and didn’t do anything to prevent the assassination. In addition, they also allege that federal agencies had personnel, including undercover agents, in the ballroom but failed to protect Malcolm.
Ultimately, who killed Malcolm X? Was the murder perpetrated exclusively by individuals in the Nation of Islam, or along with agencies of the US government? We may never know the details of the whole story. Perhaps more than asking who killed Malcolm X, we should ask who else would want him killed?
What we can say with confidence is that the United States government has not hesitated to employ naked violence on those that challenge it, from the revolutionary union songwriter Joe Hill to Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. The assassination of Malcolm X was very likely one of many in a long list of state sponsored terror.
Malcolm X was a freedom fighter who not only upset the orthodoxy of a group like the Nation Of Islam, but more importantly the power of the ruling class of the United States – those that sit atop of the big businesses and the government that backs them up. Malcolm X, with his rapidly evolving consciousness, and the radicalizing explosive uprising of Black people that he gave voice to, represented a very real threat that could potentially transform society.
“I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the systems of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don’t think that it will be based upon the color of the skin….” Malcolm X, 1965
