Men wrongly convicted of killing Malcom X reach settlement

Two men, wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for two decades over the murder of civil rights leader Malcolm X, will receive a combined $36 million from NYC and the state of New York, per a new agreement announced late Sunday.

📅 Background: Malcolm X gained national prominence in the 1950s as the voice of the Nation of Islam, calling for Black people to claim their civil rights “by any means necessary,” per APNews. Near the end of his life, he started to split with the Nation of Islam and advocate for racial unity.

In 1965, Malcolm X was shot dead while he gave a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. Two men, Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, were soon arrested and found guilty of first-degree murder. Both men consistently maintained their innocence.

• Aziz was released from prison on parole after 19 years, while Islam was released on parole after 21 years (and later died in 2009).
• Last November, the two men were officially exonerated after an investigation by the Manhattan DA – inspired by a 2020 Netflix doc Who Killed Malcolm X? – found the NYPD and FBI had suppressed evidence pointing to the two men being innocent.

⚖️ That brings us to this summer… when Aziz and the estate of Islam both sued NYC, seeking $40 million in damages. Under the recently-agreed-upon settlement, Aziz and Islam’s estate will each receive $13 million from NYC, and $5 million from New York state.