Daughters of Malcolm X sue CIA, FBI and NYPD over civil rights leader’s death

Three daughters of Malcolm X have accused the CIA, FBI, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and others in a 100 million dollar (£79 million) lawsuit of playing roles in the 1965 assassination of the civil rights leader.

In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, the daughters – along with the Malcolm X estate – claimed that the agencies were aware of and were involved in the assassination plot and failed to stop the killing.

At a news conference, lawyer Ben Crump stood with family members as he described the lawsuit, saying he hoped federal and city officials would read it “and learn all the dastardly deeds that were done by their predecessors and try to right these historic wrongs”.

The law enforcement agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, which was also sued, declined comment.

For decades, more questions than answers have arisen over who was to blame for the death of Malcolm X, who was 39 years old when he was killed on February 21 1965 at the Audubon Ballroom on West 165th Street in Manhattan as he spoke to several hundred people.

Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm X later changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

Three men were convicted of crimes over the death but two of them were exonerated in 2021 after investigators took a fresh look at the case and concluded some evidence was shaky and authorities had held back some information.

In the lawsuit, the family said the prosecution team suppressed the government’s role in the assassination.

Malcolm X’s wife, Betty Shabazz, the plaintiffs, “and their entire family have suffered the pain of the unknown” for decades, the lawsuit states.

“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,” it states.

“The damage caused to the Shabazz family is unimaginable, immense, and irreparable.”

The family announced its intention to sue the law enforcement agencies early last year.