The Murder of Malcolm X is Not Resolved

By John Shavers (February 21, 1995)

Qubilah Shabazz has been accused of plotting to kill Minister Louis Farrakhan, reportedly using a person with a very dubious background (a white man in the federal witness protection program). There are strong reasons for us to question what really happened, recently and thirty years ago. Today’s players remain the same: Malcolm X and his family, the Nation of Islam and the US Government. This recent plot to kill Farrakhan smells suspiciously like entrapment using a trusted close associate of an important black person to bring that person down. This plot story also serves to set up disinformation among the American people. If any moves against Minister Farrakhan are planned [by the same forces of evil that set-up Malcolm’s murder thirty years ago] it will be easy to convince the cattle-like American mentality that someone from Malcolm’s camp is responsible.

Remember, the power structure must be worried that Farrakhan might be successful with his plan to march one million black men to Washington later this year. I was in New York last year when 35,000 people packed into the Javits Convention Center. I was also there when 12,000 black men waited in eight-degree cold weather on a line three blocks long to hear the minister speak. Both these events were successful without the assistence of one drop of major media advertising. These situations were duplicated all over the country. Therefore, the forces of evil have good reason to be concerned. This man, like Malcolm X many years ago, has the potential to unify black people. However, Farrakhan’s most significant weakness is the perception, held by most people who know the whole story, that he had a part in Malcolm’s demise.

Those of us who are familiar with the raw facts will never be satisfied with the lack of justice that has been served regarding the murders of our leaders during the sixties: Martin Luther King, Fred Hampton, Medgar Evers and even the Kennedys. In some cases we just plain don't buy the story we were sold (JFK, RFK and King). Medgar Evers' killer only recently met justice after 30+ years. Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were intentionally killed by the police. But what about Malcolm X? Didn't three men serve time? Only one man was actually caught at the crime scene.

Let's cut to the simple facts:

There were five killers at the Audobon Ballroom on February 21, 1965

Only three men were tried and convicted

One of the men convicted was at home unable to walk on 2-21-65

Two of the men convicted were well known to Malcolm's people as potential enemies. If they had come to the Audobon that day they would have been refused entry or at least carefully watched. None of Malcolm's people including Reuben Francis the NYC Police undercover agent , saw Butler or Johnson on 2-21-65

Talmadge Hayer, the confessed killer who was caught at the scene, said at the trial that the other two, Butler and Johnson, were innocent. However, the most startling fact is that in late 1974, he gave the real names of his accomplices and no effort was made to apprehend them.

We know Hayer joined the conspiracy to murder Malcolm because he thought he was taking part in the silencing of a liar who spoke ill of his beloved leader, Elijah Muhammad. When he later learned Malcolm was in fact telling the truth, he came clean and told all he knew (See the affidavit from Hayer below). But no one in law enforcement listened. No one in the House Assassinations Committee put Malcolm on their list of murders to investigate. Why? Somebody doesn't want this touched.

We know that the government, at a minimum, inspired the murder. The FBI did everything possible to encourage hatred of Malcolm by members of the Nation of Islam (NOI). We know that many still prominent members of the NOI, especially the Honorable Louis Farrakhan, are also deeply responsible for fanning the flames against Malcolm among the loyal followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Clearly the assassination team consisted of NOI members responding to the climate their leadership created if, in fact, that leadership did not order Malcolm's murder. I believe those who may have encouraged the murder, owe Malcolm's family and African people all over the world a very sincere apology and complete disclosure of everything they know about the case. Of course, anyone directly involved in ordering the killing or pulling the triggers should be brought to justice and punished. Unfortunately, while I have the greatest regard for what Minister Farrakhan is doing today, I could never join him simply because his hands are not clean. His October 1964 article in Muhammad Speaks was a clear message to NOI members that Malcolm should be silenced. Still, he refuses to admit his error and stop, in essence, blaming Malcolm for causing his own death. If you analyze what Minister Farrakhan says, Malcolm, by taking a stand against his leader, sealed his own fate.

We also know that the NOI supported the families of those convicted for the murder during the early years of their incarceration. According to a public statement by Malcolm’s widow, folks in the NOI were openly boastful about the murder. "It was a badge of honor," Sister Betty Shabazz says. This allegation is supported by the attitude displayed in Louis Farrakhan’s public assertion "... was he [Malcolm] your traitor or ours? ..." The statement went on to suggest that the NOI had the right to deal with Malcolm as they saw fit and no outsider has any business making any judgments in the matter. I disagree. The family of Malcolm X disagrees. Millions of Malcolm’s followers worldwide disagree. And if Minister Farrakhan ever expects to take a position in the leadership of all African people worldwide, this very deep wound cannot be ignored.

Who actually ordered the hit? Who paid for it? I don't know. Based on his testimony, even assassin Talmadge Hayer doesn't know. But those of you who watched Mission Impossible will remember that no one in the "I-M Force" ever actually pulled the trigger. But their targets ended up just as dead at the hands of their own people. I believe that this is what happened to Malcolm. Even if someone in the NOI leadership sponsored the assassination, the US government either had agents in the NOI headquarters and/or on the assassination team. The timeliness of the killing was too convenient.

To understand the situation you need to know why Malcolm was killed. Of course the power structure feared Malcolm's fiery condemnations of their responsibility for our misery. But even more so, they feared that Malcolm would unify African people. Not just here but worldwide. Had Malcolm lived, he would have done what no African has done before or since: formed true and solid working links among Africans here and on the continent. He was also moving closer to King. There is nothing more problematic for an exploiter than to have someone pull the wool off him while he is in the midst of committing his crime. Malcolm was about to embarrass the US government, badly. His would have been a blow that would have had major negative implications for the cold war efforts of America. As you know, he had traveled all over Africa and met every key leader including Nasser of Egypt, Nkrumah in Ghana, Sekou Toure in Guinea, Nyerere in Tanzania, Obote in Uganda, Kenyatta in Kenya, Aziekwe in Nigeria. Men who were leading newly independent countries. Malcolm had garnered their support for a UN resolution that would condemn the US and South Africa for HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. They could no more let that go through than allowing the Russians to simply be awarded title to the hearts and minds of these countries.

Had Malcolm lived, even another two months, the whole game would have changed, markedly and permanently. That's why he was killed. And don't forget, a few days after Malcolm was killed, the CIA had Malcolm's Tanzanian comrade in the effort to cement support for the UN resolution killed while in Burundi, East Africa. He was shot down in the streets by assassins. This was no coincidence. He was killed by the same power structure that murdered Lumumba and burdened the world with Mobutu in Zaire, the same people who destabilized Nkrumah in Ghana, the same folks who brought you death squads all over Central and South America. The same folks.

But they don't have to get away with it. Keep this one alive. Talk about it. Write letters to Congress. Write the NOI and Minister Farrakhan. Ask him to open all the NOI files on the murder.

Further reading: "Conspiracies: The Plot to Kill Malcolm X," by Zak Kondo (probably the most complete book on the subject); "The Judas Factor," by Karl Evanzz; "The Assassination on Malcolm X," by Peter Goldman (includes the affidavits written by Talmadge Hayer with the names of his accomplices); Muhammad Speaks, December 1964 article by Louis Farrakhan; Emerge Magazine, March 1992 cover story on the Nation of Islam.

Also see: "Malcolm X: the Real Story," produced by CBS News. Tony Brown's Journal, a four-part series of Malcolm X including an interview with Talmadge Hayer discussing his part in the murder and the roles of others.

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