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Exactly 58 years after the assassination of Black revolutionary leader Malik el-Shabazz, aka Malcolm X, his family has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the CIA, FBI, New York Police Department and others, accusing them of contributing to his death.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, joined by X’s daughters Ilyasah Shabazz and Qubilah Shabazz held a press conference on Wednesday.
Speaking at the site of the former Audubon Ballroom in upper Manhattan, where Malcolm was executed in front of a crowd of supporters, demanded justice for the unsolved murder.
His daughter Ilyasah is the co-administration of her father’s estate.
“For years our family has fought for the truth to come to light,” she said at the news conference, according to NBC News. “We want justice served for our father.”
While seen as a radical militant to the White majority and U.S. government during his lifetime, Malcolm X unapologetically advocated for Black Americans to respect themselves enough to fight for their freedom.
“We’ve got to change our own minds about each other. We have to see each other with new eyes. We have to see each other as brothers and sisters. We have to come together with warmth so we can develop unity and harmony that’s necessary to get this problem solved ourselves,” Malcolm X said in his famous speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet.”
Family of Malcolm X sues for justice
Filing a notice of claim, she accused the government agencies of conspiring with each other to bring about the “wrongful death of Malcolm X.
Meanwhile, Crump claimed that the agencies knowingly withheld factual evidence for years even as other men were wrongfully imprisoned for the crime.
“There has been speculation as to who was involved in the assassination of Malcolm X,” Crump said.
When asked if he believes government agencies conspired to kill X, he didn’t flinch.
“That is what we are alleging, yes. They infiltrated many civil rights organizations.”