NYC To Pay $26 Million To Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, The Men Wrongly Convicted Of Killing Malcolm X
New York City will settle lawsuits filed on behalf of two men who were exonerated last year for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X , agreeing to pay $26 million for the wrongful convictions.
The two men, Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, suffered decades of injustice from a criminal justice system that put them behind bars for more than 20 years on questionable evidence. Even after their release, Aziz and Islam lived with the stigma of involvment in the iconic civil rights icon’s assassination.
“This settlement brings some measure of justice to individuals who spent decades in prison and bore the stigma of being falsely accused of murdering an iconic figure,” said Nick Paolucci of the NYC Law Department, according to The New York Times.
Aziz and Islam were alleged to be part of a trio that opened fire inside the crowded Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan as Malcolm X was starting to speak on Feb. 21, 1965. They, along with Talmadge X. Hayer (Thomas Hagan) were pinned with the killing. Hayer admitted to his role in the shooting, but said Aziz and Islam were not involved. He said in a 1977 affidavit that he had instead plotted the assassination with four other people for Malcolm’s criticism of the Nation of Islam, which he had been separated from and its then-leader Elijah Muhammad.
Aziz and Islam, he said, were not among the conspirators. This left doubts about Aziz and Islam’s guilt for many years. A Netflix documentary, ”Who Killed Malcolm X,” renewed interest in the case by calling into question the convictions of the two men and the roles several law enforcement agencies played after the assassination.
A 22-month investigation by the office of former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. and the men’s lawyers found that the NYPD, FBI and prosecutors withheld evidence that would have likely led to acquittals. On Nov. 17, the convictions of Aziz and Islam were thrown out.
The Times reports that the settlement will be split evenly between Aziz, who was released in 1985 and is now 84, and the estate of Islam, who was released in 1987 and died in 2009 at 74.
“It’s tragic that he died never knowing that his name would be cleared,” David B. Shanies, a lawyer for the two men, said. “So, given the importance of the case and the immense length of time that this wrongful conviction lingered, it was important for the government to act quickly to do what was within its power to make it right.”
In a separate settlement, Shanies said New York State agreed to pay a $5 million settlements for each of Aziz and Islam’s estates.
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“Based on our review, this office stands by the opinion of former Manhattan district attorney Vance who stated, based on his investigation, that ‘there is one ultimate conclusion: Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were wrongfully convicted of this crime,’” Paolucci said.
