The Truth about Malcolm X’s Murder Begins and Ends with Louis Farrakhan

What made Malcolm Little stand out from all those born during his era went far beyond intelligence to a point of realism.  History tells us that as a young child, he was subjected to his “Lansing Michigan home being burned to the ground” and the body of his father, Earl, being found “lying across the town’s trolley tracks”.  Both of these incidents were reported by the police as accidents even though there were evidence that the white supremacist organization Black Legion could have been behind this.  He was also subjected to his mother losing her mind, having to be institutionalized and all eight children, including himself” split up amongst various foster homes and orphanages”.  

This education and the education of the streets allowed him the opportunity to reexamine his life and the direction it was going while he spent months and even years behind bars for the crimes he committed during his youth.  He finally decided to dedicate his life to a higher calling and was seduced by the rhetoric of the Nation of Islam (NOI) and its’ charismatic leader Elijah Mohammad.  There it is reported that he shined and worked his way to one of the NOI’s top ministers.  He seemed quite content in that role until he discovered that his mentor, Mr. Mohammad, had violated the very same rules he required all of those within his organization to follow.  Having already seen several instances where those who are greatly trusted turns on that trust and betrays those who trusted in them, he felt that this could not go unaddressed and denounced his affiliation with the NOI to create his own.

Now during this time, no one disrespected Mr. Mohammad in that manner even if Mr. Mohammad disrespected the organization and no one felt more betrayed than Louis X better known today as Louis Farrakhan.  Farrakhan is reported to have written “Only those who wish to be led to hell, or to their doom, will follow Malcolm,”.  He was also heard saying that Malcolm X should be dug up and killed again, not to mention that even Malcom X’s wife Betty Shabazz, “prior to a public reconciliation with Farrakhan in 1995, believed Farrakhan played a role in her husband's death” and even Farrakhan himself “conceded in 1994 that he "helped create the atmosphere" that encouraged the killing”. 

Here’s what we know.  We know that FBI informants working undercover in the NOI warned officials that Malcolm had been marked for assassination.  We know that on February 14, 1965 the home where Malcolm, Betty and their four daughters lived in East Elmhurst, New York was firebombed.  We know that one week later, Malcom X was killed and later three people were arrested for the murder.   We also know that Malcolm X predicted his death in an interview with “CBS’s Mike Wallace saying “Oh yes, I probably am a dead man already.”  We know that the three people who were arrested and convicted Talmadge Hayer aka Thomas Hagan, Norman 3X Butler aka Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Thomas 15X Johnson aka Kahlil Islam were all members of the Nation of Islam. We know that it all began with a ruse to distract Malcom’s bodyguard, then when to a man firing two rounds from a shotgun into the podium and chest of Malcolm, followed by two other men rushing the stage and firing more rounds into his body with handguns. It all becomes hazy from there.

Talmadge Hayer aka Thomas Hagan has confessed to being involved in the murder but has consistently swore that Norman 3X Butler aka Muhammad Abdul Aziz and Thomas 15X Johnson aka Kahlil Islam was not involved.  Thomas 15X Johnson aka Kahlil Islam still proclaims his innocence and has offered some proof that he did not participate but to no avail.  As for Norman 3X Butler aka Muhammad Abdul Aziz, nothing much can be found of him except reports that “Muhammad Abdul Aziz aka Norman 3X Butler was paroled in 1985, and in 1998 was named by Louis Farrakhan to be chief of security for the Harlem mosque that Malcolm X once headed”. “He was Louis Farrakhan's handpicked general, a fire-in-the-belly soldier some in the Nation of Islam hoped would guide scores of wayward Muslims back to the disheveled black separatist theocracy”.  So again Farrakhan is connected by more than just being a member of the NOI. What does he know and is he protected?

This question should be asked for no other reason than “After the conviction, Talmadge Hayer aka Thomas Haden claimed that Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson were innocent, instead claiming that Leon David and Wilbur McKinley had participated in the crime”.  “Mr. Hagan said that after one man shot Malcolm X in the chest with a shotgun, he and another man fired several more rounds at him”. Mr. Hagan also named Benjamin Thomas and William Bradley as part of the group.  “all five assassins came out of the Nation of Islam Mosque Number 25 in Newark (now Masjid Ali Muslim) and it is reported that “Bradley who was especially chosen by Thomas, the ring’s leader, to handle the sawed-off owing to his infamous reputation on the streets of Newark, N.J. as a ”stick up man” and bank robber”.  There were also a mention of someone named Lynwood X.

Where are they now?  All are alive and still living in New Jersey except for Benjamin Thomas who was killed in 1986 and Wilbur McKinley along with Lynwood X who seemed to have disappeared leaving behind no information as to their whereabouts.  Bradley, aka Mustafa Shabazz and Leon David is reported to still reside in New Jersey.  I guess Mr. Hayden had it right when he said that “they picked the right guy, because even if I felt I was going berserk watching myself get framed, they knew I would never talk, never give anyone up. That was my mentality: straight up, what I thought was a righteous Muslim”.  One can only suspect that those said to be involved that disappeared or was killed might have not been a “righteous Muslim”.

Sources;
The Man Who Didn’t Shoot Malcolm X, by Mark Jacobson for NY Magazine
Talmadge Hayer, aka Thomas Hagan, Free After 45 Years for the Murder of Malcolm X, by Kevin VaLeu for Yahoo Contributor Network
Killer of Malcolm X Is Granted Parole, by ANDY NEWMAN and JOHN ELIGON for NY Times
Malcolm X's Killer Axed, by Peter Noel for The Village Voice
Talmadge Hayer biography, www.biography.com
This is The Face of Another of Malcolm X’s Assassins, William Bradley, But He Never Got a Day in Prison. Why? , www.thisblksistaspage.wordpress.com

Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a D.C.-based historian and independent scholar who runs the blog, A Singular Voice:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Determination of History to Repeat Itself is Due to our Cowardice to Stop It

The Sudden Concern about a Democracy in Decay

Something to Think About Regarding These State’s Abortion Bans