Muhammad Aziz, a man who was wrongfully convicted in the 1865 assassination of Malcolm X, was exonerated of the crime back in 201. Now, Aziz is filing a lawsuit against the federal government over the FBI allegedly withholding proof of his innocence.
Muhammad Aziz, 85, filed the lawsuit in a Brooklyn, N.Y. federal court last week, adding a new chapter to his legal ordeal that landed him more than two decades behind bars. The estate of the late Khalil Islam, another man who was convicted in the assassination plot, also filed a lawsuit. Islam died in prison back in 2009.
Courthouse News Service reports that Aziz is alleging that former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover withheld proof that would have granted Aziz and Islam freedom. Adding to this, former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. said during the hearing to clear Aziz and Islam that the FBI and NYPD. both hid witness records that may have cleared the men of any wrongdoing. Vance added that Hoover instructed witnesses in the case to not tell the police or prosecutors of their FBI informant status.
The lawsuits are naming more than a dozen people affiliated with the FBI and reportedly are seeking a combined $80 million in damages. The suit claims that Aziz and Islam were targeted due to their connection to the Nation of Islam despite being at home with their spouses at the time of the 1965 incident.
Thus far, Aziz and the estate of Islam have been awarded $36 million by New York City and the state.
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Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty
