The daughters of African-American activist Malcolm X have called for the investigation into his murder to be reopened in light of new testimony involving New York Police and the FBI.
Consulted on Sunday by the AFP news agency, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said “consideration” of the appeal was “underway.”
At a press conference, a letter was penned by a former New York police officer, who has passed away, in which he accused the police and the FBI of being complicit in the murder.
According to his cousin, the agent, who was black and worked undercover, claims to have approached, at the request of his superiors, the entourage of Malcolm X and to have captured two of his bodyguards, arrested a few days before the murder.
On February 21, 1965, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X’s real name, was without his two bodyguards when he appeared for a speech at the Audubon Ballroom, a performance hall in Manhattan, before d ‘being hit by three snipers.
More generally, the former police officer, who wanted his testimony to be made public only after his death, claims that the New York Police (NYPD) and the FBI kept certain aspects of the case secret.
In February 2020, following the release of the Netflix documentary “Who Killed Malcolm X?” Manhattan attorney Cyrus Vance asked his teams to analyze the case to determine whether the investigation should be reopened or no.
Asked this Sunday by AFP, the New York police said they had communicated to the prosecution “all the files relating to this affair”. The NYPD “is ready to contribute to this review in any way,” he said.
The FBI office in New York, however, did not respond to AFP.
“Anything that clarifies this terrible tragedy must be carefully considered,” said Ilyasah Shabazz, one of Macolm X’s three daughters, who attended the press conference.