The death of Black revolutionary and civil rights leader Malcolm X
was a devastating blow to the movement for racial equality in the U.S. On February 21,
1965, Malcolm X was giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York.
"Death was all over Malcolm, that whole day."
As he was talking, a man, later identified as Thomas Hagan,
ran toward the stage and shot at him. This first assassin was joined by two
other men who also fired at X until he was dead. He was 39 years old.
In 2020, Netflix released a documentary series titled Who Killed Malcolm X? shedding light
on the men Hagan named as his accomplices. Although he does not appear in the docuseries,
old footage and photographs of Hagan were used and
the documentary's directors credited him in the project under the name Talmadge Hayer.
Malcolm X had a tough upbringing. Born Malcolm Little, his father, a Baptist minister and
political activist, was hit by a car in what some believe was a murder. Malcolm was just 6 years
old. His mother, Louise, was institutionalized when Malcolm was 14. This led Malcolm to turn
to crime at a young age, and he spent time in juvenile detention centers. He eventually moved
to Boston to live with his half-sister, where he continued his life of crime,
dealing drugs and running with gangs until, at 21, he was sentenced to ten years for robbery.
While serving time, Little, who was enormously intelligent,
read everything he could and took debate classes, which sharpened his oratory skills. In prison,
he joined the Nation of Islam or NOI, a Black-American Islamic and
political organization. He took the surname X, as was the Nation's custom.
"To have once been a criminal is no disgrace. To remain a criminal is the disgrace."
After his parole in 1952, Malcolm X became an active member of NOI leader Elijah Muhammad's
organization and quickly took on a prominent leadership role in the movement and beyond.
He became a central figure in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, alongside the likes
of Martin Luther King Jr., although the two disagreed on tactics. Dr. King championed
non-violence and civil disobedience, whereas X famously told his followers to defend themselves:
"By any means necessary."
After a pilgrimage to Mecca, X's views started to evolve and he left the Nation
of Islam. Malcolm had been instrumental in growing the NOI's membership and had become
the public face of the organization. His departure from the Nation strained
the already sour relationship brewing between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad.
"If you would
like to follow anyone against me, go ahead and do it, but I fear for you."
As a result of Malcolm's departure, he spent the last year of his life
receiving countless death threats from the group.
"Malcolm knew he was gonna die by someone's hands."
On February 21, 1965, the brazen assassination of
Malcolm X was witnessed by the more than 400 people in attendance at the Audubon
Ballroom. Audience members were able to capture and apprehend the main shooter,
later identified as Thomas Hagan, a member of the NOI, also known as Talmadge Hayer.
Hagan was arrested and charged with Malcolm X's murder, along with two other men,
Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson. But Butler and Johnson always maintained
their innocence. Even Hagan insisted they were not involved in the assassination,
going so far as to name his true accomplices in an affidavit.
"And even during the trial, I had stated myself
that Norman Butler and Thomas Johnson were not involved in the killing of Malcolm X."
Despite that, in 1966, all three were convicted of the murder of Malcolm X and sent to prison.
Butler, whose name is now Muhammad Aziz, was released in 1985. Johnson,
who changed his name to Khalil Islam, was released in 1987. He died in 2009.
"Your father's not here to speak for himself. What do you think he'd want people to know?"
"He is a sacrificial lamb."
"Your father."
"Right. A full man of integrity."
Both men continued to claim their innocence, and in 2021 a judge finally listened, opting
to exonerate them. In the courtroom before his exoneration, Aziz said,
"I do not need this court, these prosecutors or a piece of paper to tell me I am innocent. I am
an 83-year-old man who was victimized by the criminal justice system."
In April 2010, Thomas Hagan, by then 69 years old, was released on parole,
44 years after being convicted in Malcolm X's murder. Ironically, he walked out of a New York
City minimum-security prison at the intersection of West 110th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.
Prior to his official release he'd been living in Brooklyn,
New York several days out of the week and in prison the other days, a program he'd
participated in since 1992. Today, Thomas Hagan, now known as Mujahid Abdul Halim, is 81 years old.