Witness to Malcolm X assassination comes forward with account questioning NYPD response
NEW YORK — Cops racing to the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965 stopped the civil rights leader’s followers from beating a suspected gunman caught at the scene, with the police asking each other, “Is he with us?” according to bombshell testimony released Tuesday.
Speaking out for the first time, Mustafa Hassan recounted the bedlam during the Feb. 21, 1965 killing and how he tried to stop a man running from the scene with a gun — but was held back by responding officers.
“He was being beaten by Malcolm’s followers while a group of policemen ... suddenly showed up on the scene asking, ‘Is he with us?’ while at the same time holding back Malcolm’s followers from beating him,” Hassan said about the gunman as he read an affidavit he filed with attorney Ben Crump’s office.
“From my vantage point, this was an attempt by the police to assist in him getting away,” the senior added.
Crump has filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Malcolm X’s daughters against the NYPD and other city, state and federal agencies for intentionally concealing evidence in his murder.
Bolstering their case, Hassan was never questioned by police even though he remained at the scene, Crump said. The new evidence will also help them overcome concerns that the statute of limitations for the wrongful death suit expired decades ago, he added.
“We will show that the defendants concealed evidence, which gives us a cause of action,” the lawyer said. “It wasn’t due to a lack of diligence. No one will say that Malcolm X’s family had accepted what the government had told them. They always sought the truth.”
After his public split from the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X was gunned down on the stage of the Audubon Ballroom as he prepared to make a speech to supporters of his new group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
He was shot 21 times as his wife and children looked on.
The new evidence was recounted at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center in Washington Heights, which was once the Audubon Ballroom.
It comes after a state judge exonerated two of the three men convicted and jailed in connection with Malcolm X’s murder.
Last year, the city paid $26 million and the state paid $10 million to Muhammad Aziz and the family of Khalil Islam to settle lawsuits related to their wrongful convictions.
Hassan was working security for the Organization of Afro-American Unity when Malcolm X was murdered.
After remaining silent for nearly 60 years, he came forward in March, Crump’s legal team said.
The attorney confirmed that Hassan was at the Ballroom through archive photos and videos of the assassination.
“We have the pictures and we have the video, but we have no sound,” Crump said. “But we have an eyewitness and, more importantly, an ear witness who heard what the NYPD officers were saying.”
The Police Department has repeatedly declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the pending litigation.
