Men Wrongly Convicted of Malcolm X’s Assassination To Receive $36 Million Settlement

Two men who were exonerated in the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X will receive a $26 million settlement from the city of New York, officials announced.

The state of New York agreed to pay an additional $10 million.

Wrongfully convicted of Malcolm X’s assassination to receive millions in lawsuit settlement

Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam were exonerated last year after a judge found “serious miscarriages of justice” in their cases.

After a 22-month investigation by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office and lawyers for the men, found that evidence of their innocence, including FBI documents, was withheld at trial.

Three men were convicted in 1966 for the murder of Malcolm X — Mujahid Abdul Halim (known previously as both Talmadge Hayer and Thomas Hagan), Aziz and Islam, and were sentenced to life in prison. Aziz and Islam said they were innocent. Halim acknowledged he took part in the assassination, but he maintained the innocence of the other two men.

Aziz was released from prison in 1985; Islam was released in 1987 but died in 2009 and received a posthumous exoneration.

Assassination of a civil rights icon

Malcolm X was a revered civil rights icon who gained national prominence as the voice of the Nation of Islam. He galvanized Black people to claim their civil rights “by any means necessary.” His autobiography, written with Alex Haley, remains a classic work of modern American literature.

Near the end of Malcolm X’s life, he left the Black Muslim organization and, after a trip to Mecca, started speaking about the potential for racial unity. It earned him the ire of some in the Nation of Islam, who saw him as a traitor.

He was fatally shot during the beginning of his speech on Feb. 21, 1965. He was 39.

Aziz and Islam, then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson, and a third man were convicted of murder in March 1966. They were sentenced to life in prison.