New York: Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of murdered black civil rights activist Malcolm X, announced that she is suing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for her father’s killing in 1965.
Shabazz, 60, made the announcement on Tuesday at the site in New York where he was shot dead 58 years ago, which has since been converted into a memorial site, reports the BBC.
She was two-years-old when she saw three armed men shooting at her father 21 times as he was preparing to speak at a Harlem auditorium.
“For years our family has fought for the truth to come to light concerning his murder, and we’d like our father to receive the justice that he deserves,” she said.
Shabazz added that US officials fraudulently concealed evidence that they “conspired to and executed their plan to assassinate” her father.
“It is our hope that litigation of this case will finally provide some unanswered questions. We want justice served for our father.”
Also speaking to reporters at the same site, Benjamin Crump, the lawyer who is representing the family, alleged that powerful figures in the American government had conspired to kill Malcolm X, the BBC reported.
He mentioned former FBI Director J Edgar Hoover throughout his remarks and said Malcolm X’s family intends to file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking damages in the range of $100 million.
“It’s not just about the triggermen… It’s about those who conspired with the triggermen to do this dastardly deed,” he was quoted as saying.
Crump also announced that he planned to take depositions from government officials for the case.
Malcolm X was a lead spokesman for the Nation of Islam, which advocated separatism for black Americans, before his acrimonious split from the organisation. He was 39 when he was killed.
One man, a Nation of Islam member, confessed to killing him.
In 2021, two other men convicted of killing him had their convictions thrown out after a New York state judge declared there had been a miscarriage of justice.
The two men were later fully exonerated and their families sued and won $26 million from New York City and $10 million from New York state.
(IANS)
