Malcolm X’s family files $100 million lawsuit against FBI, CIA over 1965 assassination

NEW YORK, US - NOV. 15, 2024: The family of Malcolm X has filed a $100 million federal lawsuit accusing U.S. law enforcement agencies of negligence and cover-up in the civil rights leader's assassination nearly 60 years ago. Ilyasah Shabazz, one of Malcolm X’s daughters, announced the lawsuit alongside other family members, alleging the FBI, CIA, and New York Police Department knew about the plot to kill him but failed to act. The family’s legal action follows years of speculation about government involvement in his murder, with recent exonerations of two men initially convicted of the crime raising further questions. Malcolm X rose to fame in the 1950s with his meteoric ascent to power as a member of the Nation of Islam. He increasingly took centerstage over the group's leader, Elijah Muhammad, and professed a flexed-muscle approach to the civil rights movement, which significantly contrasted with the peaceful philosophy of MLK, leading the public to portray Malcolm X as a militant leader. On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated as he began a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. Three Black men were arrested for Malcolm X's assassination. Two of them were not even at the shooting scene that day. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York reopened the case, and both wrongly convicted men were exonerated and had their sentences vacated in November 2021. (Footage by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)