9 – He Was Murdered ‘By His Own’
While Malcolm X would certainly have been a viable target for white supremacist groups, it was the Nation of Islam, the organization that ‘made’ him, who was responsible for his death. In the latter stages of his time in the NOI, Malcolm began to fall out with Elijah Muhammad but he arguably left on decent terms. However, his relationship with the NOI quickly disintegrated during 1964. First, he changed his name to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and converted to traditional Islam. Then, he started speaking out against the Nation and criticized Muhammad for his infidelities when he had previously remained silent.
Muhammad had begun grooming Louis Farrakhan as Malcolm’s successor and even spoke to him about evicting Malcolm from his residence in Queens. On the day Malcolm declared that he was leaving the NOI, Muhammad called Farrakhan and told him of the plan to remove the former minister from his house which would then be given to Farrakhan. In September 1964, Farrakhan spoke at an NOI meeting in Chicago for seven hours. He said that Malcolm was a hypocrite who should be stopped at all costs.
On December 4, 1964, Farrakhan said: “Such a man as Malcolm is worthy of death.” An NOI member named Leon 4X Ameer left to join Malcolm’s new group and was savagely beaten on December 24. He would ave died if a police officer, who was calling to question him about his role in a robbery, hadn’t found him drowning in blood in the bathroom. Back in February 1964, a leader of Temple Number Seven had ordered the bombing of Malcolm’s car. In June, FBI surveillance also heard Malcolm’s wife, Betty Shabazz, say that her husband was “as good as dead.”
Malcolm was well aware that the Nation of Islam had designs on his life and on February 19, 1965, he told an interviewer named Gordon Parks that the NOI was actively trying to murder him. The end came in New York just two days later when Malcolm appeared at 125th Street’s Alhambra Ballroom. Just as he was about to speak, a fight started to break out in the front row. Malcolm tried to get involved when suddenly, three men pulled out guns and started shooting. Malcolm was shot 21 times and was pronounced dead just an hour later.
One of the shooters, Talmage Hayer, was shot and wounded by one of Malcolm’s bodyguards and was arrested. The other two killers, Norman 3X Butler, and Thomas 15X Johnson, were caught and arrested a few days later. Their trial took place in March 1966 and only Hayer admitted his guilt. Even so, the other two were also found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Hayer was the last to be released, in 2010. Butler was paroled in 1985 and Johnson was freed in 1987. Both men claimed innocence and it seems as if the murder investigation was botched.