Nearly six decades after Malcolm X was gunned down in front of his family at the Audubon Ballroom, his estate has launched a sweeping lawsuit accusing the CIA, FBI, NYPD, and other agencies of playing a role in the civil rights leader’s death. During a press conference at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in New York, attorney Ben Crump described the case as a historic step toward accountability. “This cover-up spanned decades, blocking the Shabazz family’s access to the truth,” Crump said.
The lawsuit alleges that law enforcement agencies not only failed to protect Malcolm X from known threats but also actively created conditions that enabled his assassination. Among the accusations are claims that federal agents were present in the ballroom on February 21, 1965, and took no action to prevent the shooting. Additional charges highlight a coordinated effort to conceal evidence, which the Shabazz family contends has denied them justice for generations.
The case unfolds against a backdrop of renewed scrutiny into Malcolm X’s death. In recent years, a growing body of evidence—including deathbed confessions and investigative reporting—has suggested government complicity in his assassination. Ray Wood, an undercover NYPD officer, admitted in a letter that the FBI and NYPD worked to undermine the civil rights movement, implicating themselves in the events surrounding Malcolm X’s murder. In 2021, two men convicted in the assassination, Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam, were exonerated and their families received a $36 million settlement.
Malcolm X’s assassination has long been steeped in conspiracy theories, with many pointing to divisions within the Nation of Islam (NOI), his former organization, as a potential source of conflict. Yet, federal programs such as COINTELPRO, aimed at destabilizing Black liberation movements, are central to many of these narratives. A Netflix documentary, Who Killed Malcolm X?, revisited these theories, suggesting that state and federal agencies were deeply entangled in efforts to suppress Malcolm X’s influence.
The Shabazz family’s lawsuit represents a culmination of decades of efforts to uncover the truth. For many, it is not only a quest for justice but also a reckoning with the structural forces that targeted one of the most iconic figures of the civil rights movement. Crump, echoing these sentiments, demanded transparency: “Why don’t you release the files? Fifty-nine years later, what more excuses can there be?”
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