The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance will conduct a review of the original investigation into the high-profile murder of Malcolm X after a new documentary about the assassination on Netflix dug up new information about the case.
The district attorney’s office told The Washington Post that it “will begin a preliminary review” of the case in light of the documentary, which will be released on Friday, and a presentation made weeks ago by attorneys representing Muhammad Abdul Aziz, one of three men convicted of the assassination.
Malcolm X, one of the most well-known and controversial civil rights activists of his era, had split from the Nation of Islam the year before his assassination, denouncing its leader as a “religious faker,” and founded his own movement: The Organization of Afro-American Unity. He was killed on Feb. 21, 1965 after multiple shooters fired at him while he was delivering a speech at the Audubon Ballroom. Talmadge Hayer, also known as Thomas Hagan and Mujahid Abdul Halim, confessed to the murder, but has maintained since his trial that Aziz, also known as Norman 3X Butler, and Khalil Islam, also known as Thomas 15X Johnson, were innocent.
The Netflix documentary, “Who Killed Malcolm X?” is largely based on the work of historian Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, who assembled information from declassified FBI documents, former members of Nation of Islam mosques, and finding four other possible assassins that were not officially investigated by police.
“I had read enough to believe the killers were still out there,” Muhammad says in the documentary. “I’ve never been afraid of the truth. I’ve always wanted to know, what is the real story? I mean, this is Malcolm X we’re talking about.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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