Assassination of Malcolm X

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X, a Muslim African American minister and Black power 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, 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.