Assassination of Malcolm X

Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X being taken away from the Audubon Ballroom on a stretcher after the shooting
LocationManhattan, New York City, U.S.
DateFebruary 21, 1965; 59 years ago (1965-02-21)
3:15 p.m. (EST)
TargetMalcolm X
Attack type
Assassination, murder by shooting
WeaponsSawed-off shotgun
2 semi-automatic pistols
VictimMalcolm X, aged 39
PerpetratorThomas Hagan
Convicted
VerdictAll guilty (Aziz and Islam's convictions overturned in 2021)
ConvictionsSecond-degree murder
SentenceLife in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years
LitigationCompensation from the state and city of New York to Aziz and the family of Islam settled for $36 million[1]

Malcolm X, an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement, was shot multiple times and died from his wounds in Manhattan, New York City on February 21, 1965, at age 39. While preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, Malcolm X was shot multiple times and killed. Three members of the Nation of IslamMuhammad Abdul Aziz, Khalil Islam, and Thomas Hagan—were charged, tried, and convicted of the murder and given indeterminate life sentences, but in November 2021, Aziz and Islam were exonerated.

Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or by law enforcement agencies, particularly the FBI and CIA, has persisted for decades after the shooting. The assassination was one of four major assassinations of the 1960s in the United States, coming two years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and three years before the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.[2]

  1. ^ "State, city of New York to pay $36 million to men exonerated in Malcolm X's murder". NBC News. October 31, 2022.
  2. ^ Shahid M. Shahidullah, Crime Policy in America: Laws, Institutions, and Programs (2015), p. 94.