A person claiming to paintings for Malcolm X’s safety element the day of his assassination spoke publicly concerning the activist’s loss of life for the primary time at a press convention on Tuesday.
The civil rights chief was once shot greater than a dozen occasions whilst turning in a speech on the Audubon Ballroom in New York Town on Feb. 21, 1965. Mustafa Hassan, who spoke on the press convention hosted by means of civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, claims that what he noticed and heard that day substantiates the speculation that the FBI and the NYPD have been concerned within the civil rights chief’s killing.
Following the assassination, 3 males have been charged and convicted in connection to the civil rights chief’s loss of life. Mujahid Abdul Halim, sometimes called Talmadge Hayer or Thomas Hagan, confessed to the killing. He has maintained that the 2 other people convicted of the killing — Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam ― weren’t concerned.
Hassan claimed in an affidavit signed closing month that he stopped Hagan from escaping after the taking pictures in spite of what he believes was once an try from the government to permit him to escape the scene.
“I might later see [Hagan] outdoor as he was once being overwhelmed by means of Malcolm’s fans whilst a bunch of policemen, who abruptly confirmed up at the scene asking ‘is he with us’ whilst on the similar time keeping again Malcolm’s fans from beating him,” Hassan stated on the press convention.
“They have been ready to let him move, that’s my standpoint,” Hassan added.
Inventory photos and pictures supplied to HuffPost display Hassan, now 84, on the scene of Malcolm X’s killing.
Hassan, who was once additionally a member of Malcolm X’s Group of Afro-American Harmony, stated he was once by no means approached or interviewed by means of the government and that he and his circle of relatives fled the rustic following the assassination fearing loss of life.
There are nonetheless a multitude of questions surrounding Malcolm X’s killing.
Aziz was once launched in 1985 and Islam in 1987, however it wasn’t till overdue 2021 that they have been exonerated after a two-year lengthy investigation carried out by means of the Long island District Lawyer’s administrative center. And previous this yr, the circle of relatives of the overdue Malcolm X filed a wrongful loss of life lawsuit in search of $100 million in damages, and accusing the CIA, FBI and NYPD of enjoying a task in his assassination.
Crump plans to pursue additional felony motion within the coming months given Hassan’s claims.
“When police first ran as much as the one that has simply shot Malcolm X, are they looking to prevent him? No. What they’re pronouncing, [is], ‘Is he with us,’ as a result of they don’t know if their particular person was once assigned to shoot Malcolm or no longer,” Crump stated on Tuesday.
One among Malcolm X’s daughters, Ilyasah Shabazz, additionally spoke on the press convention.
“What historical past has recorded is wrong. So we would like the reality to be identified, we would like the historical past books to replicate that reality, and we would really like justice to be served,” Shabazz stated.