More than 50 years later, Muhammad A. Aziz and the late Khalil Islam, two men convicted of the 1965 asassination of Malcolm X, were exonerated during a court meeting Thursday, Nov. 18 by New York County Supreme Court administrative judge Ellen Biben.
“I regret that this court cannot fully undo the serious miscarriages of justice in this case and give you back the many years that were lost,” Biben said in her ruling.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office and lawyers’ 22-month investigation determined both men were innocent based on FBI documents withheld at trial.
“The events that brought us to court today should never have occurred,” Aziz, 83, said while addressing the court Thursday. “Those events were and are the result of a process that was corrupt to its core, one that is all too familiar to black people in 2021.”
At the time of the killing, the civil rights activists were known as Norman 3X Butler (Aziz) and Thomas 15X Johnson (Islam).
“The events that brought us to court today should never have occurred,” Aziz, 83, said while addressing the court Thursday. “Those events were and are the result of a process that was corrupt to its core, one that is all too familiar to black people in 2021.”
While the court system has awarded him justice, he said he hopes they also take accountability for the pain they caused his life for the last 56 years.
Vance apologized in court for the “decades long injustice” impacted by Aziz and Islam.
“I apologize for what were serious, unacceptable violations of law and the public trust,” Vance said. “I apologize on behalf of our nation’s law enforcement for this decades long injustice which has eroded public faith in institutions that are designed to guarantee equal protection under law. Your honor, we can’t restore what was taken away from these men and their families, but by correcting the records, perhaps we can begin to restore that faith.”
Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York Feb. 21, 1965.
“For millions and millions of Americans, we still need to know who killed Malcolm X and who ordered it,” New York Mayor City Bill de Blasio said.
Aziz was released from prison in 1985. Islam was released in 1987 and died in 2009.
