The daughters of Malcolm X have filed a $100 million lawsuit against the CIA, FBI, New York Police Department (NYPD), and other entities, accusing them of involvement in the 1965 assassination of the iconic civil rights leader.
Filed on Nov. 15 in Manhattan federal court, the lawsuit also names Malcolm X’s estate as a plaintiff and alleges a conspiracy among the agencies to orchestrate his killing and cover up their roles.
According to the legal filing, the government concealed critical information about the assassination, leaving the Shabazz family with “unimaginable, immense, and irreparable” harm.
“The plaintiffs, and their entire family, have suffered the pain of the unknown for decades,” the suit claims. “They did not know who murdered Malcolm X, why he was murdered, the level of NYPD, FBI, and CIA orchestration, the identity of the governmental agents who conspired to ensure his demise, or who fraudulently covered up their role.”
Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little and later known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement. He was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965, while delivering a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan.
The case has been shrouded in controversy, with questions lingering about the involvement of law enforcement agencies and suppressed evidence.
At a press conference announcing the lawsuit, renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump joined Malcolm X’s daughters, Ilyasah and Qubilah Shabazz.
Crump spoke about the need for accountability, stating:
“We hope federal and city officials will read this lawsuit and learn all the dastardly deeds that were done by their predecessors and try to right these historic wrongs.”
The assassination case saw a significant development in 2021 when two men, originally convicted of Malcolm X’s murder, were exonerated following a reinvestigation that uncovered government misconduct and suppressed evidence.
So far, the government agencies named in the lawsuit, including the Department of Justice, have declined to comment.
