It Is Time to Hold the FBI Accountable For Its Crimes

Malcolm X murder exonerations expose the FBI’s racist policies and the need for accountability.

Jan. 2, 2022 - On November 18, a New York judge threw out the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, 55 years after the two men were convicted of the February 1965 assassination of Malcolm X. A two-year investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office revealed that both the New York Police Department and the FBI failed to disclose exculpatory information about the men, which likely would have led to their acquittal.

Judge Ellen Biben, who presided over the hearing, spoke about the “serious miscarriages of justice”, while district attorney, Cyrus Vance, apologised for “serious unacceptable violations of the law and the public trust” by the FBI and the NYPD, and stated that the defendants did not receive a fair trial and their convictions must be vacated.

Yet, this shocking perversion of justice raises serious questions: Were the real killers working with the FBI? And is that why the FBI withheld the information? What does it say that the only witnesses who placed Aziz and Islam at the scene of the crime were FBI informants? We do not know the answers because the NYPD and FBI still lack transparency.

The lack of transparency about Malcolm X’s murder becomes even more troubling when we consider the FBI’s conduct in the war on terror. After the 9/11 attacks, the FBI was tasked with preventing the next attack supposedly being organised by vast networks of terrorists in the US. source

Man Exonerated In Malcolm X Assassination To Sue New York City, State


Jan. 3, 2022 - Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam were wrongfully convicted in 1966 of playing roles in the assassination of Malcolm X. Now Aziz and Islam's estate have announced plans to sue. One of two men now deemed wrongfully convicted in the 1965 assassination of civil rights leader Malcolm X has a claim against the state of New York and filed a notice of claim against New York City.

Lawyers for Muhammad A. Aziz (who was convicted under his name at the time, Norman 3X Butler), 83, announced Tuesday that they plan to seek compensation under the state's New York's Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment Act, which allows people wrongfully convicted of crimes to recover damages from the state. source

“We Want the Truth Uncovered”: Malcolm X’s Daughter Ilyasah Shabazz Backs Probe Into Assassination

Jan. 3, 2022 -

The family of Malcolm X is demanding a new investigation into his 1965 assassination in light of the deathbed confession of a former New York police officer who said police and the FBI conspired to kill the Black leader. Ilyasah Shabazz, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and one of Malcolm’s six children, says the latest revelation is further evidence of how the authorities worked to infiltrate and undermine Black organizations during the Civil Rights Movement. “All he wanted was for America to live up to her promise of liberty and justice for all,” she says of her father. “I’m happy that the truth can finally be uncovered.”