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The daughters of the leader of the civil rights movement, preacher Malcolm X, demanded that the investigation into his murder be reopened in light of new evidence.
The request was based on a letter from the deathbed of a man who was a police officer at the time of the 1965 murder, alleging that the NYPD and the FBI were conspiring in the operation.
Raymond Wood wrote that his responsibility was to secure the arrest of Malcolm X’s security team, days before he was shot in Manhattan, the latter’s family said.
Three men were found guilty of the murder.
The men, all members of the Nation of Islam political and religious movement, were sentenced to life imprisonment. One of them has since died, while the other two have been released.
By the time he was shot dead, Malcolm X, who was once seen as a public face of the Nation of Islam but later left the movement, had tempered his hard-line message on armed secession.
However, he remained a fervent defender of black unity, self-esteem, and self-reliance.
In 2020, a Manhattan County attorney initiated a sentencing review after meeting with representatives from the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal group that fights for justice for people it says have been wrongly convicted. .
What does Wood’s letter affirm?
The letter says the New York Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) withheld details of the February 21, 1965 murder at Audubon Hall in Harlem, Upper Manhattan, according to Wood’s family and his attorney.
Wood claims he was tasked with making sure Malcolm X didn’t have security systems in place, as he was scheduled to speak publicly.
At a news conference Saturday, members of Wood’s family did not provide details on how or when Raymond died.
But they said they did not want to publish the message until after his death, fearing repercussions from the authorities.
“Any evidence that provides a deeper insight into the truth behind this terrible tragedy must be thoroughly investigated,” said Elisa Shabazz, one of Malcolm X’s daughters.
How did the NYPD and the FBI respond?
“Several months ago, the Manhattan County Attorney General began reviewing the investigation and prosecution that resulted in two convictions for the murder of Malcolm X,” the New York Police Department said in a statement.
“The New York Police Department has provided all available records related to this case to the Attorney General. The House remains committed to assisting in this review in any way,” the statement added.
The FBI has not yet issued any public comment on this issue.