Two men exonerated after decades in prison for Malcolm X's 1965 murder

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Two men who spent decades in prison for the murder of Black activist and civil rights advocate Malcolm X in 1965 were exonerated on Thursday (November 18) after the Manhattan district attorney apologized for what he called "violations of the law and the public trust."

Applause broke out in the courtroom as New York State Supreme Court Justice Ellen Biben vacated the convictions against Muhammad Aziz, 83, and Khalil Islam, who died in 2009. Both were released from prison on parole in the 1980s.

Aziz told the court that his wrongful conviction had stemmed from "a process that was corrupt to its core, one that is all too familiar to Black people in 2021," and said he hoped the system would take "responsibility for the immeasurable harm it caused me."

Two of Islam's sons who were also present in court, Ameen and Shahid Johnson, told reporters outside the courthouse that they felt "bittersweet" about the exoneration because it could not replace everything their family had lost.

Ameen was 1-1/2-years old and their mother was pregnant with Shahid when Islam, who was formerly known as Thomas Johnson, was arrested.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in court that new exculpatory evidence uncovered during a two-year-long investigation had made it clear that Aziz and Islam were wrongfully convicted for murdering Malcolm X.

Investigators withheld from both defense and prosecution "dozens and dozens" of documents from the New York Police Department and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, including reports that implicated other suspects, according to Vance.

The conviction of a third man for murdering Malcolm X still stands.

Malcolm X rose to prominence as the national spokesman of the Nation of Islam, an African-American Muslim group that espoused Black separatism. He spent over a decade with the group before becoming disillusioned, publicly breaking with it in 1964 and moderating some of his earlier views on racial separation.

He was shot dead at New York City's Audubon Ballroom while preparing to deliver a speech. All three of the men convicted were members of the Nation of Islam.

Before tossing the convictions on Thursday, Biben said she regretted the court could not give Aziz and Islam back the years they had lost.

Two men exonerated after decades in prison for Malcolm X's 1965 murder

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