Malcolm X’s family has published a letter saying it was written by a late New York City police officer who claimed the NYPD and the FBI were behind the 1965 Harlem murder of the civil rights activist.
Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan a year after he broke ranks with the Nation of Islam.
Three members of the black separatist group were convicted of the shooting.
On Saturday, some of Malcolm X’s daughters released a letter attributed to a former NYPD secret agent, Raymond Wood, at the site of the old hotel at 165th Street. Family members were joined by Reggie Wood. , a cousin of the deceased officer.
In the letter, Raymond Wood allegedly wrote that NYPD supervisors pressured him to indict two members of Malcolm X’s security data to commit crimes that led to his arrest in the days leading up to the assassination of the activist.
The letter said the arrests provided an opportunity for the relaxed door security in the hotel’s ballroom and were part of a conspiracy between federal investigators and New York City police to kill Malcolm.
“Under the direction of my managers, I was told to encourage leaders and members of civil rights groups to commit criminal acts,” the letter said.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said last year that his office would reopen the case to investigate claims by several historians and scholars that the wrong suspects were arrested for the murder.
Following the letter, Vance’s office issued a statement saying “the review of this matter is active and ongoing.”
The NYPD said it is collaborating in the prosecutor’s effort.
“The NYPD has provided all available records relevant to this case to the district attorney. The Department remains committed to assisting with this review in any way,” the sergeant said. Edward Riley wrote in a statement to the newspaper Sunday.
The FBI declined to comment.
Ilyasah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, said she had always lived with uncertainty about the circumstances of her father’s death.
With mail cables