The estate of Malcolm X is suing the federal government, accusing it of playing a role in the 1965 assassination of the civil rights leader.
In a lawsuit filed against the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI, the CIA and the New York Police Department (NYPD), the estate alleges the agencies all played a significant role in the events leading to Malcolm X’s slaying and then engaged in a decades-long cover-up of their involvement.
The complaint says the DOJ, FBI, CIA and NYPD were aware of credible threats against Malcolm X’s life but failed to intervene.
“As a direct result of the Defendants’ intentional, bad faith, willful, wanton, reckless, unreasonable and/or deliberately indifferent acts and omissions, Malcolm X was deprived of his federal constitutional rights, was robbed of his life and freedom, and sustained severe physical, emotional, and monetary damages, including conscious physical pain and suffering,” the lawsuit states.
Malcom X, who was born Malcolm Little, was gunned down at age 39 by three men on February 21, 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, where he was set to deliver a speech. His pregnant wife, Betty Shabazz, and four daughters were in the front row.
He was shot 21 times in the attack.
The suit, brought by Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz and other family members, calls for $100 million in restitution. It also demands answers to questions still surrounding the assassination.
Though three men were initially convicted for the killing, two were exonerated in 2021.
That same year, a letter written by a former NYPD officer alleged that the NYPD and FBI covered up details of the assassination.
The officer, Raymond Wood, wrote that he was ordered to coerce members of Malcolm X’s security team to commit felonious federal crimes “so that they could be arrested by the FBI and kept away from managing Malcolm X’s door security on Feb. 21, 1965.”
The lawsuit alleges that under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, then-head of the FBI, the entities “went beyond mere allegedly illegal surveillance of Malcolm X, actively conspiring to reduce his protection and leaving him vulnerable to an attack they knew was imminent.”
“For decades, these agencies viewed Black activism as a threat to national security, resulting in the unchecked targeting of prominent leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Marcus Garvey,” the family said in a press release.
“This lawsuit seeks accountability for the systemic negligence and intentional actions that deprived Malcolm X’s family and the world of his life and legacy.”
In total, the lawsuit lists nine causes of action, including excessive use of force against Malcolm X, deliberate creation of danger, failure to protect and the denial of access to the courts for his family.
The suit also charges the defendants with conspiracy, fraudulent concealment and wrongful death.
“This cover-up spanned decades, blocking the Shabazz family’s access to the truth and their right to pursue justice,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family in the suit. “We are making history by standing here to confront those wrongs and seeking accountability in the courts.”
