The family of Malcolm X is suing the government for $100 million after discovering the United States hid evidence regarding the civil rights leader’s assassination.
According to Law and Crime, Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz was one of the relatives that announced the wrongful death lawsuit on Tuesday, Feb. 21 with their attorney Ben Crump.
She said, at a news conference on the 58th anniversary of her dad’s murder, her family plans to file the multi-million federal lawsuit against the New York Police Department, the FBI, and other government agencies for withholding evidence regarding the assassination of the family’s patriarch.
The news conference was held at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, the location then known as the Audubon Ballroom. Crump said the lawsuit was not just for the family but “for his people and this world.”
Shabazz, who was 2 years old when her father was shot, said, “Today, we will celebrate our father’s life and legacy with the community because it is something that my mother did every year for as long as I can remember with my sisters and just the larger community, we will also seek justice for a man, a very young man, who was only 39 years old, who gave his life for human rights.
“For years, our family has fought for the truth to come to light concerning his murder. And we’d like our father to receive the justice that he deserves,” she stated.
Shabazz, her mother Dr. Betty Shabazz, and most of her sisters were all present when her father was killed on Feb. 21, 1965. The then-39-year-old was shot 21 times in front of his family.
Two men, Muhammad Aziz, formerly known as Norman 3X Butler, and Khalil Islam, then Thomas 15X Johnson, were arrested and convicted for the killing. In 2021, the men were exonerated after new evidence emerged proving they did not kill the leader.
With the help of the Innocence Project, the government paid the men $26 million in a settlement.
“The truth about the circumstances leading to the death of our father is important not only to his family but to many followers, many admirers, many who look to him for guidance, for love,” she continued.
“And it is our hope that litigation of this case will finally provide some unanswered questions.”