3. The assassination of Malcolm X has spawned several conspiracy theories alleging the covert participation of other organizations and individuals
Serving as one of the most prominent faces of the Civil Rights Movement, following a prolonged period of preaching the separation of black and white Americans, Malcolm X concluded his career supporting the integration of the races. An activist for the rights of persecuted minorities in the United States, in contrast to his contemporary Martin Luther King, Malcolm X was not opposed to the use of violence in pursuit of his political objectives. Eventually facing the same tactics in response, on February 21, 1965, as Malcolm X was planning to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity in Manhattan, he was assassinated by three members of the Nation of Islam.
Riddled with twenty-one gunshot wounds, the three individuals responsible for the attack – Thomas Hagan, Norman Butler, and Thomas Johnson – were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in March 1966. Akin to the assassination of King three years later, conspiracy theories offering alternative versions of events immediately began being proliferated. Accusing a range of individuals and organizations, from government officials, the NYPD, FBI, or the CIA, to drug dealers, none of these theories have obtained legitimate proof verifying any aspect of their wild claims. Nevertheless, pressure continues to be applied for the “truth” to be released by advocates of these conspiratorial speculations.