Assassination of Malcolm X
| Assassination of Malcolm X | |
|---|---|
The Audubon Ballroom stage after the murder, with bullet holes marked by circles | |
| Location | Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Date | February 21, 1965 c. 3:10 p.m. (EST) |
| Target | Malcolm X |
Attack type | Assassination, murder by shooting |
| Weapons | Sawed-off shotgun 2 semi-automatic pistols |
| Victim | Malcolm X |
| Perpetrator | Thomas Hagan |
| Motive | Retribution for Malcolm X's departure from the Nation of Islam |
| Verdict | All guilty (Aziz and Islam's convictions overturned in 2021) |
| Convictions | Second-degree murder |
| Sentence | Life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years |
| Litigation | Compensation from the state and city of New York to Aziz and the family of Islam settled for $36 million |
| Convicted |
|
Malcolm X, a Muslim African American minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement, was shot multiple times and died from his wounds in Manhattan, New York City, on February 21, 1965, at the age of 39 while preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in the neighborhood of Washington Heights. Three members of the Nation of Islam—Muhammad Abdul Aziz, Khalil Islam, and Thomas Hagan—were charged, tried, and convicted of the murder and given indeterminate life sentences. In April 2010, Hagan was released from prison, and in November 2021, Aziz and Islam were exonerated.
Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation of Islam, or by law enforcement agencies, particularly the FBI and CIA, has persisted for decades after the shooting. The assassination was one of four major assassinations of the 1960s in the United States, coming less than two years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and three years before the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.