Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump is scheduled to announce new witnesses in the alleged conspiracy case surrounding Malcolm X’s assassination.
During a press conference scheduled for Feb. 21, 59 years to the day of X’s murder, Crump and co-counsel Ray Hamlin and Flint Taylor will be introducing two new witnesses who have offered evidence in the case. A press release labels the witnesses as security associates who have never spoken publicly before and were arrested one week before the civil rights leader’s killing.
X was
killed on Feb. 21, 1965 at just 39 years old, while speaking at New York City’s Audubon Ballroom — in front of his wife and daughters. For years following his death, conspiracies flew around that he was murdered by federal and New York government agencies, often listing the NYPD, FBI, and CIA as co-conspirators. However, the theories have never been proven.In July 2023, Crump and his team alleged they’d secured more information that they say will point fingers at the FBI for trying to cover up a
conspiracy to murder X. Crump mentioned Eugene Roberts, a former NYPD informant who acted as a Malcolm X associate, witnessed a dress rehearsal at the Audubon Ballroom for Malcolm’s pending assassination a week prior.Years later, in an interview with CBS, Roberts claimed he heard someone say “(expletive), get your hands out of my pockets” at the dry run. He then gave the information to the FBI but is unaware of what they did with the information, and it is still unclear who organized the dry run.
Taking place at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, X’s family is scheduled to be present in the hope that this may bring some closure to this historic cold case. “We simply want the truth to be known,” Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s daughter, said. “What history has recorded is inaccurate.”
Many bombshell revelations have come forth since the tragic murder. In 2023, another eyewitness, Mustafa Hassan, claimed the gunman who was convicted of the murder, Nation of Islam member Thomas Hagan, worked with law enforcement. As
part of a $100 million lawsuit against the NYPD, FBI, and CIA filed by Crump on behalf of Malcolm X’s children, Hassan said no one ever tried to interview him or obtain a statement.Hagan was one of three men convicted of killing Malcolm X. The other two men, Muhammed Aziz and Khalil Islam, were later exonerated and received a $10 million settlement from the city in 2023.