Attorney: Family of Malcolm X seeks $100 million in lawsuit against NYPD, government agencies

Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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Attorney Ben Crump said Tuesday he intends to file a $100 million lawsuit against the New York Police Department and other government agencies, alleging conspiracy in connection with the 1965 assassination of civil rights activist Malcolm X and subsequent cover-up of evidence.

"It’s not just about the triggermen," Crump said at a news conference Tuesday in Manhattan. "It's about those who conspired with the triggermen to do this dastardly deed."

Crump, who made the announcement 58 years to the day after Malcolm X was assassinated, was flanked by two of the slain leader's daughters. He said he was buoyed by the November 2021 exoneration of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam, two of the three men convicted in the case, after new evidence came to light.

"The rhetorical question is this," Crump said. "If the government compensated the two gentlemen 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?"

The NYPD declined to comment on pending litigation.

What new evidence was revealed?

Among the family members who joined Crump and co-counsel Ray Hamlin was Malcolm X's daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, who at 2 years old was present with her mother when her 39-year-old father was shot 21 times as he delivered an address at New York's Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965.

"For years, our family has fought for the truth to come to light concerning his murder," she said. "We would like for our father to receive the justice he deserves."

Crump said he would vigorously pursue collection of depositions from remaining individuals with firsthand knowledge of the 58-year-old case.

This combination photo shows Muhammad Aziz, a suspect in the slaying of Malcolm X, after his arrest, in New York, on Feb. 26, 1965, left, and Aziz outside court after his conviction in the killing of Malcolm X was vacated on Nov. 18, 2021, in New York.
This combination photo shows Muhammad Aziz, a suspect in the slaying of Malcolm X, after his arrest, in New York, on Feb. 26, 1965, left, and Aziz outside court after his conviction in the killing of Malcolm X was vacated on Nov. 18, 2021, in New York.

Family members in February 2021 demanded a thorough reinvestigation after the unveiling of a letter written by late NYPD officer Raymond Wood saying he had been coerced into luring members of Malcolm X’s security team into criminal activity so they could be arrested, days before the assassination took place.

“It was my assignment to draw the two men into a felonious federal crime so that they could be arrested by the FBI and kept away from managing Malcolm X’s door security,” Wood wrote, saying he was unaware Malcolm X was the target.

Wood, who died of stomach cancer in November 2020, said he took part in actions “that in hindsight were deplorable and detrimental to the advancement of my own Black people.”

How did the original convictions unravel?

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced his office would revisit the case after the 2020 release of a Netflix documentary miniseries exploring the assassination.

New York judge Ellen Biben in November 2021 dismissed convictions for Aziz and Islam, both of whom maintained their innocence during their approximately two decades in prison. The city and state of New York later settled lawsuits on behalf of both men for a combined $36 million.

"I apologize for what were serious, unacceptable violations of the law and the public trust. I apologize on behalf of our nation’s law enforcement for this decades-long injustice, which has eroded public faith in institutions that are designed to guarantee the equal protection of the law," Vance said at the time.

"What we have to do is connect the dots," Crump said. "As people get ready to meet their maker, the hope is that they will look at Malcolm X’s daughters and say, 'We wronged them and we need to make that right before we leave this earth.' "

He added: "There is no measure of money, no measure of explanation, that they can ever offer this family.The only thing they can do is try to right a historic wrong, not only for his family, but for his people and his work."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Malcolm X: Family announces $100M suit in slain leader's assassination