The family of civil rights leader Malcolm X filed a $100-million federal lawsuit Friday, accusing the FBI, CIA and New York Police Department of allowing his assassination. The wrongful death lawsuit, brought by his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz and other family members, claims the law-enforcement agencies concealed evidence that they had prior knowledge of a plot to kill Malcolm X and did nothing to stop his murder. “We believe that they all conspired to assassinate Malcolm X, one of the greatest thought-leaders of the 20th century,” said Ben Crump, the civil-rights attorney representing the family at a press conference announcing the filing. According to Crump, the civil suit is meant to bring reparations to the family, provide clarity, and answer lingering questions surrounding the assassination nearly six decades later. While Talmadge Hayer, then a member of the Nation of Islam, confessed to being one of Malcolm X’s three assassins, speculation about government awareness of the assassination plot has long persisted. Shabazz was 2 years old when her father was fatally shot on Feb. 21, 1965, as he prepared to speak at New York’s Audubon Ballroom. She was present during the killing, along with her mother and siblings.
