The family of murdered black civil rights activist Malcolm X is suing the FBI, the CIA and the New York police department (NYPD) for $100m (£79m), accusing them of a having role in his death.
The Shabazz family, led by Ilyasah Shabazz as administrator of the estate, claims that the NYPD and federal agencies had prior knowledge of threats to Malcolm X’s life but failed to intervene. The suit details how government agents intentionally removed security from the ballroom where Malcolm X was murdered, arrested his security detail days before the assassination, and failed to protect him from known harm. Federal agents, including undercover operatives, were in the ballroom during the assassination and took no steps to intervene, the lawsuit alleges. The NYPD said it “will decline comment on pending litigation” and the CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI told the Associated Press that it was its “standard practice” not to comment on litigation. Malcolm X was a lead spokesman for the Nation of Islam – which advocated separatism for black Americans – before his acrimonious split from the organisation. He was 39 when he was killed.
In 2021, two other men convicted of killing him had their convictions thrown out after a New York state judge declared there had been a miscarriage of justice. The two men were later fully exonerated after New York’s attorney general found prosecutors had withheld evidence that would have probably cleared them of the murder. Family of the wrongly convicted men sued and won $26m from New York City and $10m from New York state.