- Two men wrongly convicted for murdering Malcolm X will be paid $36 million by New York City and the State. AP.
- Muhammad A. Aziz initially sought $40 million in civil rights litigation in July.
- The settlement will be divided between Aziz, Khalil Islam’s estate, and Aziz. Khalil Islam died in 2009.
According to David Shanies, the attorney for the two men wrongly convicted in 1965’s murder of Malcolm X, they will receive a $36million settlement from New York City. APAnd Reuters.
Shanies said that the paperwork for the settlement would be signed in the coming weeks. New York City will pay $26 million, while the state of New York will pay $10 million. Insider asked Shanies for comment, but she did not respond immediately.
Khalil Islamic and Muhammad A. Aziz were, at the time, known as Thomas 15X Johnson, Norman 3X Butler, and Khalil Allah. They were both sentenced in 1966 to life in prison for Malcolm X’s death. Aziz was released on parole on 1985. Islam was released on parole on 1987. Islam was released on parole on 2009 and died in 2009. The Washington Post.
They were November: Exonerated after an almost two-year-long investigation — run by the New York county district attorney Cyrus Vance, nonprofit organization The Innocence Project, and Shanies — showed that the FBI and the New York Police Department, or NYPD, withheld evidence during the original trial in 1966.
Aziz, now aged 84, filed a civil rights lawsuit for $40 million claiming that his wrongful conviction resulted from “flagrant officials misconduct”, including by the NYPD and its intelligence division, the Bureau of Special Services and Investigations. court documents showed.
Aziz, who was 26 years of age and was a father to six children, was arrested. The court documents said that the damage done to him and his loved ones was “immeasurable” and irreparable.
The settlement will split equally between Aziz (the estate of Islam) The New York Times reported, citing Nicholas Paolucci, the director of public affairs for the New York City Law Department, and Shanies. Insider asked Paolucci to comment, but she did not immediately respond.
Malcolm X was a prominent member of Nation of Islam and a civil rights activist. AssassinatedOn February 21, 1965, he was preparing to address a rally at the Audubon Ballroom of Washington Heights. About a year prior to his death, he had left the Nation of Islam.
Mujahid Abdul Haim, also known to Talmadge Hayer and convicted of murder, admitted that he took part in the assassination, but had long denied Aziz, Islam, or any involvement. The New York Times. Halim was released from prison on parole in 2010.
