Malcolm X's daughters sue FBI, CIA, DOJ, and New York Police over father's assassination

Three daughters of civil rights leader Malcolm X on Friday sued the FBI, CIA, Justice Department, and the New York Police Department (NYPD) for $100 million over their father's assassination, accusing them of playing a role in his 1965 death.

Three men were originally convicted in the assassination plot, but two convictions have since been overturned after prosecutors claimed in 2021 that the evidence used at the time was shaky. They also claimed U.S. authorities withheld information. 

The women's attorney Ben Crump on Friday morning announced the lawsuit in Manhattan, where Malcolm X was killed, and urged the agencies to "learn all the dastardly deeds that were done by their predecessors and try to right these historic wrongs."

None of the federal agencies, nor NYPD have commented on the lawsuit so far.

The lawsuit alleges that there was a “corrupt, unlawful, and unconstitutional” relationship between the agencies and criminals, which "went unchecked for many years and was actively concealed, condoned, protected, and facilitated by government agents,” prior to the assassination, according to the Associated Press.

The filing also claimed that Malcolm X's security detail was arrested days before the assassination, and that the NYPD had removed its officers from inside the ballroom, where the incident took place. Other federal agents were allegedly in the room while undercover but failed to prevent the assassination.

Malcolm X's family said they did not bring the lawsuit, which was first teased last year, earlier because they did not have certain critical information. But the lawsuit said the family, including Malcolm X's wife Betty Shabazz, have suffered long enough.

“They did not know who murdered Malcolm X, why he was murdered, the level of NYPD, FBI and CIA orchestration, the identity of the governmental agents who conspired to ensure his demise, or who fraudulently covered-up their role,” the lawsuit said. “The damage caused to the Shabazz family is unimaginable, immense, and irreparable.”

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.