Malcolm X Murder Witness Believes Police Were Involved In His Assassination
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A witness to the murder of Malcolm X has come forward with claims that undercover officials were involved in the assassination.
According to Rolling Stone, Mustafa Hassan, a former member of Malcolm X’s Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), was present at a press conference held on Tuesday (July 25) in New York City, where he gave his account of the evening he saw the former Nation of Islam member being gunned down. The conference, held by Ben Crump, Ray Hamlin, and several other attorneys, was the first time Hassan had spoken publicly about his eye-witness account, which he originally disclosed in an affidavit filed in Kings County, New York.
A member of Malcolm X’s security detail at the Audubon on the night of his murder, Hassan recalls hearing a loud explosion and gunshots before seeing Talmadge Hayer, also known as Thomas Hagen and Mujahid Abdul Halim, wielding a gun while attempting to flee. “I managed to knock this person down,” Hassan remembered, after which he attended to a wounded Malcolm X, who he says “was in grave conditions” and “seemingly close to death.”
Exiting the ballroom to track down the man he encountered earlier, Hassan says he discovered him outside being assaulted by Malcolm’s supporters while policemen attempted to break up the skirmish. Yet, Hassan says the police appeared to be inquiring if Hayer was “with” them and attempting to shield him from the mob’s incessant attacks, giving him cause to believe that Hayer and was working with officials.
“From my vantage point, this was an attempt by the police to assist in him getting away,” Hassan said, noting that he personally stepped in to prevent Hayer from escaping. “Rather than allow the man to get away. I reached out and grabbed the man by his collar to prevent him from escaping, as evidenced in the attached photograph that you’ll see.”
The witness, who says he was never questioned or interviewed as part of the Malcolm X murder investigation, remains adamant that the police responders were looking to help the assassin evade capture. “They were prepared to let him go, that’s my perspective,” Hassan later added during the press conference.
The photo on display during the press conference showed a younger Hassan holding a man’s collar as police appear to separate the man from Hassan and the rest of the crowd. The witness says he is now speaking out due to he and his family fleeing the country following Malcolm’s death out of fear of retribution against them.
Malcolm X was murdered on Feb. 21, 1965 in an ambush shooting while preparing to deliver a speech at the Audubon Ballroom. His death has been plagued with rumors of the involvement of government officials for decades. In 2021, Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, who each spent more than 20 years in prison after being convicted of the murder of Malcolm X, were exonerated and have since received a $26 million settlement from New York City.
Earlier this year, Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz, her sister Qubilah and other family members announced that a notice of claim had been filed with the intent to sue the FBI, the CIA, the New York Police Department, and other agencies for allegedly concealing evidence related to his murder.
“We simply want the truth to be known, the history books to reflect the orchestration of the assassination of our father, and we want justice to be served,” llyasah said at the time, who was in attendance at the press conference. “Because I think what history has recorded is inaccurate. So, we want the truth to be known. We want the history books to reflect that truth. And we would like justice to be served.”
According to Crump, the attorneys and family have to wait a certain amount of time to officially file the $100 million suit against the agencies.
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