1 00:00:06,423 --> 00:00:07,933 [Malcolm X] What were you before the white man 2 00:00:08,008 --> 00:00:09,128 named you a Negro? 3 00:00:09,218 --> 00:00:10,838 What was your name? 4 00:00:10,928 --> 00:00:13,388 It couldn't have been Smith or Jones. 5 00:00:13,472 --> 00:00:14,932 They don't have those kind of names 6 00:00:15,015 --> 00:00:16,675 where you and I came from. 7 00:00:16,767 --> 00:00:19,097 [Herb Boyd] Malcolm spoke truth to power. 8 00:00:19,186 --> 00:00:20,226 This guy is fearless. 9 00:00:20,312 --> 00:00:21,902 It's the white man that's cracking skulls! 10 00:00:21,980 --> 00:00:24,530 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] But even at the height of his popularity, 11 00:00:24,608 --> 00:00:26,568 he had a lot of enemies. 12 00:00:26,652 --> 00:00:28,652 [Malcolm X] I do believe there will be attempts on my life. 13 00:00:28,737 --> 00:00:29,947 They're foaming at the mouth. 14 00:00:30,030 --> 00:00:32,070 [Amin Nathari] It was inevitable that he would be killed. 15 00:00:32,157 --> 00:00:34,157 I probably am a dead man already. 16 00:00:34,243 --> 00:00:35,623 - [gun firing] - [people screaming] 17 00:00:35,702 --> 00:00:36,622 [witness 1] Shooting like a cowboy. 18 00:00:36,703 --> 00:00:38,713 [witness 2] People crawling on the floor. 19 00:00:38,789 --> 00:00:40,419 [Calvin Sinnette] It was like warfare. 20 00:00:40,499 --> 00:00:43,709 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] The first time I saw those bullet wounds, 21 00:00:43,794 --> 00:00:47,884 I thought, "Why doesn't someone want to get to the bottom of this?" 22 00:00:47,965 --> 00:00:51,885 So I started asking questions. It became an obsession. 23 00:00:51,969 --> 00:00:53,849 [reporter] Who do you believe is responsible for Malcolm X's death? 24 00:00:53,929 --> 00:00:55,639 The white power structure in America is behind it. 25 00:00:56,265 --> 00:00:58,305 [James Farmer] He said that he was going to be killed 26 00:00:58,392 --> 00:00:59,642 because he knew too much. 27 00:00:59,726 --> 00:01:00,766 What did he know? 28 00:01:00,853 --> 00:01:02,653 [James Shabazz] Might be an inside job. 29 00:01:02,729 --> 00:01:04,479 [Tony Bouza] The investigation was a failure 30 00:01:04,565 --> 00:01:06,395 from beginning to end. 31 00:01:06,483 --> 00:01:07,693 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Three men were arrested. 32 00:01:07,776 --> 00:01:10,566 [Aziz] The white man say you guilty, you guilty. Why? 33 00:01:10,654 --> 00:01:11,954 Because he says so and he got a gun. 34 00:01:12,030 --> 00:01:13,620 [officer] Has he signed a statement? 35 00:01:13,699 --> 00:01:15,079 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] And the thing is, two of them weren't 36 00:01:15,158 --> 00:01:18,498 even in the Audubon Ballroom that day. 37 00:01:18,579 --> 00:01:21,289 Malcolm's death never sat right with me. 38 00:01:21,373 --> 00:01:22,753 This is a rough hood. 39 00:01:22,833 --> 00:01:24,503 What we're doing, it makes me nervous. 40 00:01:24,585 --> 00:01:28,335 [David Garrow] Asking who's guilty of Malcolm's assassination 41 00:01:28,422 --> 00:01:30,672 is a dangerous question to ask. 42 00:01:30,757 --> 00:01:32,507 That's not something that we talked about. 43 00:01:32,593 --> 00:01:33,643 Leave it alone. 44 00:01:33,719 --> 00:01:34,719 [Muhammad] What is the real story? 45 00:01:34,803 --> 00:01:36,643 You know who did it. 46 00:01:36,722 --> 00:01:40,182 It's important to get answers about who gunned down my father. 47 00:01:40,267 --> 00:01:42,307 ...by any means necessary! 48 00:01:42,394 --> 00:01:45,524 This is still a unsolved case, a mystery. 49 00:01:45,606 --> 00:01:47,566 That's almost too much to process. 50 00:01:47,649 --> 00:01:49,229 [Al Sharpton] He was our shining black prince. 51 00:01:49,318 --> 00:01:50,398 People still don't get it. 52 00:01:50,485 --> 00:01:52,355 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] The whole thing is on film! 53 00:01:52,446 --> 00:01:53,656 Wow. I was not aware of that. 54 00:01:53,739 --> 00:01:58,199 I'm not a lawyer, I don't have a Ph.D. Who did this? 55 00:01:58,285 --> 00:02:01,075 Folks try to caution me. "You leave that alone, man." 56 00:02:01,163 --> 00:02:02,373 Why would we dig up the dead? 57 00:02:02,456 --> 00:02:05,246 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] The more people tell me I can't do something, 58 00:02:05,334 --> 00:02:06,544 that's the thing I want to do. 59 00:02:06,627 --> 00:02:08,337 I'm not going to stop until I get justice. 60 00:02:08,420 --> 00:02:12,510 Because the official account of who killed Malcolm X, 61 00:02:13,550 --> 00:02:15,340 it's not true. 62 00:02:15,427 --> 00:02:18,137 [theme music playing] 63 00:03:12,442 --> 00:03:14,192 [host] My guest tonight, Malcolm X, 64 00:03:14,278 --> 00:03:16,408 once the number-two man in the Black Muslims, 65 00:03:16,488 --> 00:03:17,988 now broken with Elijah Muhammad. 66 00:03:18,073 --> 00:03:19,033 He says he's a marked man 67 00:03:19,116 --> 00:03:21,986 and that a number of attempts have been made on his life. 68 00:03:22,077 --> 00:03:24,497 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Malcolm knew he was going to die 69 00:03:24,580 --> 00:03:26,210 by someone's hands. 70 00:03:29,084 --> 00:03:31,134 It was coming. 71 00:03:31,211 --> 00:03:32,381 [sirens wailing] 72 00:03:32,462 --> 00:03:34,462 He was predicting it, even. 73 00:03:36,842 --> 00:03:41,512 Malcolm spent the night of February 20, 1965, 74 00:03:41,597 --> 00:03:43,177 in the Hilton Hotel. 75 00:03:44,850 --> 00:03:47,900 He had a big rally the next day. 76 00:03:47,978 --> 00:03:49,978 He wanted to find a safe place 77 00:03:50,063 --> 00:03:52,323 that no one knew where he was staying, 78 00:03:52,399 --> 00:03:54,319 so he could collect his thoughts. 79 00:03:54,401 --> 00:03:55,941 [phone ringing] 80 00:03:56,028 --> 00:04:00,618 He was awakened by a phone call in the morning. 81 00:04:00,699 --> 00:04:05,249 And the person on the other end of the line 82 00:04:05,329 --> 00:04:07,829 said something that let him know 83 00:04:07,915 --> 00:04:11,125 that someone knew where he was at. 84 00:04:12,461 --> 00:04:15,131 That he could be gotten anywhere, essentially. 85 00:04:16,673 --> 00:04:18,683 He called his wife, Betty, he said, 86 00:04:18,759 --> 00:04:21,929 "I want you to come and I want you to bring the girls," 87 00:04:22,012 --> 00:04:23,762 and that's what she did. 88 00:04:31,563 --> 00:04:33,023 [Sinnette] My wife was pleased 89 00:04:33,106 --> 00:04:36,106 that it was a clear, bright Sunday morning. 90 00:04:36,902 --> 00:04:38,992 When we walked into the ballroom, 91 00:04:39,071 --> 00:04:43,241 we sat about eight to ten rows from the stage. 92 00:04:43,325 --> 00:04:47,035 I could see Betty 93 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:52,040 and I think one or more of her children with her. 94 00:04:53,794 --> 00:04:56,134 [A. Peter Bailey] I got there a little bit early. 95 00:04:56,213 --> 00:04:58,923 And when brother Malcolm came in, 96 00:04:59,007 --> 00:05:00,007 it was the first time I'd ever seen him 97 00:05:00,092 --> 00:05:01,932 where he had looked a little harried. 98 00:05:02,719 --> 00:05:07,019 As though the pressures were getting on him. 99 00:05:07,099 --> 00:05:09,889 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] He knew at that point 100 00:05:09,977 --> 00:05:12,267 that time was running out for him. 101 00:05:12,354 --> 00:05:14,774 All the signs were there, 102 00:05:14,857 --> 00:05:18,737 and that's why none of his invited speakers 103 00:05:18,819 --> 00:05:21,659 that were supposed to appear on that stage with him that day, 104 00:05:21,738 --> 00:05:23,568 none of them showed up. 105 00:05:23,657 --> 00:05:25,867 Everyone knew that this man was in trouble. 106 00:05:25,951 --> 00:05:27,411 This man was hot! 107 00:05:28,078 --> 00:05:29,448 [Bailey] I remember him saying, 108 00:05:29,538 --> 00:05:32,788 "The way I feel today, I shouldn't even be here." 109 00:05:32,875 --> 00:05:35,955 And myself and about four of us people backstage, we said, 110 00:05:36,044 --> 00:05:38,134 "Well, why don't you go home? People will understand." 111 00:05:38,213 --> 00:05:40,593 "You know, you've been under a lot of pressure 112 00:05:40,674 --> 00:05:42,764 over the last three weeks." 113 00:05:42,843 --> 00:05:45,353 And he said, "No, they want to hear me, 114 00:05:45,429 --> 00:05:48,219 what I have to say about the firebombing." 115 00:05:48,307 --> 00:05:50,097 [Malcolm X] As many of you know, 116 00:05:50,184 --> 00:05:52,774 Sunday morning about three o'clock, 117 00:05:52,853 --> 00:05:55,443 somebody threw some bombs inside my house. 118 00:05:57,191 --> 00:05:59,861 I'm telling you these things, because it has reached 119 00:05:59,943 --> 00:06:04,033 a point where I feel that black people 120 00:06:04,114 --> 00:06:07,874 in this country need to know what's going on. 121 00:06:07,951 --> 00:06:09,831 And I'm talking about an organization 122 00:06:09,912 --> 00:06:11,712 which I had a hand in building, 123 00:06:11,788 --> 00:06:13,498 which I had a hand in organizing. 124 00:06:17,127 --> 00:06:19,757 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] By the time he left the Nation of Islam, 125 00:06:19,838 --> 00:06:22,928 Malcolm had a lot of enemies. 126 00:06:24,134 --> 00:06:27,394 The Nation of Islam was a pure dictatorship. 127 00:06:27,471 --> 00:06:29,891 Elijah Muhammad was at the top. 128 00:06:29,973 --> 00:06:32,273 And Malcolm was seen as a traitor, 129 00:06:32,351 --> 00:06:34,981 because he had turned on his leader 130 00:06:35,062 --> 00:06:38,732 who had raised him up from a common criminal 131 00:06:38,815 --> 00:06:41,855 and put him on a pinnacle before the world. 132 00:06:43,445 --> 00:06:46,105 Also the federal government, the FBI, 133 00:06:46,198 --> 00:06:50,408 was deathly afraid of someone like Malcolm X. 134 00:06:50,494 --> 00:06:56,384 And one of the most perplexing details about this story 135 00:06:56,458 --> 00:06:59,958 is the fact that there was an absence 136 00:07:00,045 --> 00:07:03,255 of any kind of police force 137 00:07:03,340 --> 00:07:07,470 in and around the Audubon that afternoon. 138 00:07:07,553 --> 00:07:09,813 This was very strange, 139 00:07:09,888 --> 00:07:13,478 especially given the recent threats 140 00:07:13,559 --> 00:07:15,229 that were made on his life. 141 00:07:18,021 --> 00:07:20,821 [Zaheer Ali] Usually at the rallies at the Audubon Ballroom, 142 00:07:20,899 --> 00:07:24,899 there'd be up to two dozen police officers stationed outside. 143 00:07:24,987 --> 00:07:27,867 And on that day, there were only two uniformed officers, 144 00:07:27,948 --> 00:07:33,198 and they're stationed upstairs inside, away from the ballroom. 145 00:07:33,287 --> 00:07:35,247 So the deterrent effect 146 00:07:35,330 --> 00:07:38,290 of having law enforcement present was not there. 147 00:07:39,543 --> 00:07:43,213 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] It kind of gave a kind of menacing vibe 148 00:07:43,297 --> 00:07:45,127 to the whole scene. 149 00:07:45,215 --> 00:07:48,045 You know... where was this police presence? 150 00:07:48,135 --> 00:07:50,925 [reporter] Try to remember just exactly what happened. 151 00:07:51,013 --> 00:07:53,563 [witness 1] Well, he had just got up to open up. 152 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:54,890 And, um, he was speaking. 153 00:07:54,975 --> 00:07:57,935 I don't remember the exact words he was saying... 154 00:07:58,020 --> 00:08:00,360 Malcolm goes to the rostrum, and he gave the greeting. 155 00:08:00,439 --> 00:08:01,939 Salaam-alaikum. 156 00:08:02,024 --> 00:08:04,614 [Gene Simpson] At that point, a rumbling broke out behind us. 157 00:08:04,693 --> 00:08:06,403 [man] Get your hand out of my pocket! 158 00:08:06,486 --> 00:08:08,026 [Gene Simpson] And everybody in the place 159 00:08:08,113 --> 00:08:09,493 naturally turned around to look. 160 00:08:09,573 --> 00:08:10,783 [Malcolm X] Hold it, hold it, hold it... 161 00:08:10,866 --> 00:08:13,036 [Samuel Bilal] I remember Malcolm was raising 162 00:08:13,118 --> 00:08:15,908 his hand saying, "All right, everybody be cool now." 163 00:08:15,996 --> 00:08:17,326 Or something to that effect. 164 00:08:18,498 --> 00:08:21,378 I said to myself, "Why don't they cut that out? 165 00:08:21,460 --> 00:08:24,380 I want to hear Malcolm unfold this program." 166 00:08:24,463 --> 00:08:29,013 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] And a burly, dark-skinned man 167 00:08:29,092 --> 00:08:30,552 walked up to the stage 168 00:08:30,636 --> 00:08:36,266 and pulled from under his coat a sawed-off shotgun. 169 00:08:36,350 --> 00:08:39,100 And, uh, just then the gunfire went off. 170 00:08:39,186 --> 00:08:40,726 [gun firing] 171 00:08:40,812 --> 00:08:43,362 [people screaming] 172 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,240 [Bilal] Next thing I know, two other fellas jumped up. 173 00:08:46,318 --> 00:08:47,858 They're shooting this place up. 174 00:08:47,945 --> 00:08:51,695 I remember there were so many shots that were fired. 175 00:08:51,782 --> 00:08:53,162 It was like warfare. 176 00:08:54,743 --> 00:08:59,923 [people clamoring and wailing] 177 00:08:59,998 --> 00:09:02,958 [Betty Shabazz] I saw people crawling on the floor. 178 00:09:03,043 --> 00:09:05,133 So I got down too. 179 00:09:05,212 --> 00:09:06,842 And my children were crying, you know, 180 00:09:06,922 --> 00:09:08,552 "What's going on, what's going on? 181 00:09:08,632 --> 00:09:10,132 Are they gonna shoot us?" 182 00:09:10,217 --> 00:09:12,797 [women and children sobbing] 183 00:09:12,886 --> 00:09:16,886 [Shabazz] Then I saw, um, someone 184 00:09:16,974 --> 00:09:20,394 look in amazement to the front. I knew they had shot my husband. 185 00:09:22,771 --> 00:09:25,191 [Bailey] I ran down and I jumped up on the stage. 186 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:27,690 And his shirt was open 187 00:09:27,776 --> 00:09:29,816 and I saw all these bullet holes in his body. 188 00:09:31,238 --> 00:09:33,198 And he was gasping. 189 00:09:33,949 --> 00:09:35,369 I remember thinking to myself, 190 00:09:35,450 --> 00:09:37,040 "He's gonna die. He's gonna die." 191 00:09:40,372 --> 00:09:43,382 [Shabazz] My husband was all I had. I mean he was... 192 00:09:43,458 --> 00:09:45,588 He was everything to me and my children. 193 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,010 He said that, uh... 194 00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:52,630 That he'd always love me and provide for us. 195 00:09:57,639 --> 00:10:01,309 [Malcolm X] We're not brutalized because we're Muslims. 196 00:10:01,393 --> 00:10:04,273 We're not brutalized because we're Catholics. 197 00:10:04,354 --> 00:10:08,234 We're brutalized because we are black people in America. 198 00:10:12,070 --> 00:10:14,110 [Jelani Cobb] If you're looking at the genealogy 199 00:10:14,198 --> 00:10:17,328 of the anger and activism in this country, 200 00:10:17,409 --> 00:10:19,949 we see lots of it descending from Malcolm. 201 00:10:20,037 --> 00:10:21,907 [Malcolm X] If they want us to turn the other cheek, 202 00:10:21,997 --> 00:10:25,077 teach white people to turn the other cheek. 203 00:10:25,167 --> 00:10:27,457 And if they want us to love our enemy, 204 00:10:27,544 --> 00:10:30,264 teach white people to love their enemy. 205 00:10:31,632 --> 00:10:34,382 [Cobb] Malcolm was the primary articulator 206 00:10:34,468 --> 00:10:37,388 of our cause and our case against America, 207 00:10:37,471 --> 00:10:39,931 against white supremacy in the United States. 208 00:10:40,015 --> 00:10:41,475 [Malcolm X] Black people in this country 209 00:10:41,558 --> 00:10:42,938 have been the victims of violence 210 00:10:43,018 --> 00:10:45,018 at the hands of the white man for 400 years. 211 00:10:45,103 --> 00:10:47,863 Is that different 53 years after his death? 212 00:10:48,982 --> 00:10:50,152 Not really. 213 00:10:50,234 --> 00:10:51,284 [Eric Garner] I can't breathe! 214 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:52,360 [cop] Put your hands behind your back! 215 00:10:52,444 --> 00:10:53,534 [Eric Garner] I can't breathe! 216 00:10:53,612 --> 00:10:55,412 [Malcolm X] When someone attacks you, 217 00:10:55,489 --> 00:10:59,159 when someone comes at you with a club, with a gun, 218 00:10:59,243 --> 00:11:01,753 despite the fact that you've done nothing wrong, 219 00:11:02,496 --> 00:11:04,456 he tells you, "Suffer peacefully." 220 00:11:04,540 --> 00:11:06,120 And how long can you suffer, 221 00:11:06,208 --> 00:11:08,458 after suffering for 400 years? 222 00:11:10,295 --> 00:11:13,625 We declare our right to be respected as a human being, 223 00:11:13,715 --> 00:11:16,545 to be given the rights of a human being, 224 00:11:16,635 --> 00:11:21,765 which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary. 225 00:11:21,849 --> 00:11:23,679 [crowd cheering] 226 00:11:25,894 --> 00:11:28,314 [Cobb] For those who love Malcolm, 227 00:11:28,397 --> 00:11:32,897 it is a really, really intense relationship with his memory. 228 00:11:37,364 --> 00:11:39,664 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Malcolm spoke to me at a time 229 00:11:39,741 --> 00:11:42,951 when I was a very angry young man, 230 00:11:43,036 --> 00:11:44,406 and I fell in love with him. 231 00:11:46,206 --> 00:11:48,246 I was the victim of a police attack 232 00:11:48,333 --> 00:11:51,383 when I was only 14 years old, and it was racially motivated. 233 00:11:54,131 --> 00:11:58,261 One quiet Sunday afternoon, myself and my cousin, 234 00:11:58,343 --> 00:12:00,603 I believe I was in 9th grade, 235 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,269 and we were just hanging out on our bikes. 236 00:12:03,348 --> 00:12:06,348 Me, him, and his girlfriend, 237 00:12:07,144 --> 00:12:08,524 a young white girl. 238 00:12:09,688 --> 00:12:13,728 I was just chatting with the young lady, 239 00:12:13,817 --> 00:12:17,197 and this, evidently, enraged the police. 240 00:12:17,279 --> 00:12:20,699 You know, "How dare these black boys 241 00:12:20,782 --> 00:12:22,372 date these white girls?" 242 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:27,620 They did a fishtail, you know, "whoop-whoop," 243 00:12:27,706 --> 00:12:29,416 you know, jumped out the car. 244 00:12:29,499 --> 00:12:33,209 They grabbed me by my afro, and they said, you know, 245 00:12:33,295 --> 00:12:38,125 "You like dating white girls, nigger? 246 00:12:38,217 --> 00:12:40,547 That's what you like to do?" 247 00:12:40,636 --> 00:12:43,006 And they flung me against the car 248 00:12:43,096 --> 00:12:45,716 and one of 'em came up and gave me a nice knee, y'know? 249 00:12:45,807 --> 00:12:47,177 I'm 14 years old! 250 00:12:49,728 --> 00:12:52,058 They threw me in the back of the car, 251 00:12:52,147 --> 00:12:56,737 and then they just drove around Providence and terrorized me. 252 00:12:56,818 --> 00:12:59,908 They started talking about how many brothers 253 00:12:59,988 --> 00:13:02,408 they threw in the Providence River. 254 00:13:02,491 --> 00:13:05,491 "You remember Pookie? You remember Ray-Ray, or Johnny? 255 00:13:05,577 --> 00:13:07,447 Y'know what happened to them, didn't you? 256 00:13:07,538 --> 00:13:08,868 They're at the bottom of the Providence River." 257 00:13:08,956 --> 00:13:10,036 That kind of talk. 258 00:13:11,875 --> 00:13:15,665 Then one officer looked to the other officer and he said, 259 00:13:15,754 --> 00:13:18,924 "Did he say something? Did you say something, boy? 260 00:13:19,842 --> 00:13:21,222 Say one more thing 261 00:13:21,301 --> 00:13:23,601 and we'll split your head like a goddamn grape, okay?" 262 00:13:26,598 --> 00:13:28,768 I remembered there was a... 263 00:13:28,851 --> 00:13:31,981 a paralyzing fear just trying to figure out 264 00:13:32,062 --> 00:13:34,192 what was going to become of me, y'know? 265 00:13:34,273 --> 00:13:35,943 What were these guys gonna do? 266 00:13:38,068 --> 00:13:40,988 All I could do was just sit there, you know, 267 00:13:41,071 --> 00:13:45,951 and accept whatever my fate was going to be, you know? 268 00:13:46,034 --> 00:13:48,954 Um... It was terrifying. 269 00:13:49,037 --> 00:13:51,077 It was terrifying. 270 00:13:51,164 --> 00:13:55,794 Every case of police brutality against a Negro 271 00:13:55,878 --> 00:13:57,628 follows the same pattern. 272 00:13:57,713 --> 00:13:59,843 - [man] You right! - They attack you, 273 00:13:59,923 --> 00:14:02,093 bust you all upside your mouth, 274 00:14:02,176 --> 00:14:05,176 and then take you to court and charge you with assault. 275 00:14:05,262 --> 00:14:06,972 What kind of democracy is that? 276 00:14:07,055 --> 00:14:08,965 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] The first time I heard his voice, 277 00:14:09,057 --> 00:14:14,477 what really attracted me to it was the fearlessness of it. 278 00:14:14,563 --> 00:14:16,693 [Malcolm X] You speak as a black man, 279 00:14:16,773 --> 00:14:20,033 a black man whose patience has run out. 280 00:14:20,110 --> 00:14:21,950 The manhood in it! 281 00:14:22,029 --> 00:14:25,409 The day of the sit-in, the crawl-in, 282 00:14:25,490 --> 00:14:29,660 the cry-in, and the beg-in is outdated. 283 00:14:29,745 --> 00:14:33,495 The power of this man's courage to say this stuff. 284 00:14:33,582 --> 00:14:37,382 You know, it was... It was irresistible! 285 00:14:37,461 --> 00:14:40,461 It changed the entire trajectory of my life. 286 00:14:40,547 --> 00:14:43,837 That's the reason why I went to Howard University. 287 00:14:43,926 --> 00:14:48,006 That's the reason I became a black militant activist 288 00:14:48,096 --> 00:14:49,846 at that moment. 289 00:14:49,932 --> 00:14:52,062 We all had a story or know someone 290 00:14:52,142 --> 00:14:54,312 who's been jacked up by the police. 291 00:14:54,394 --> 00:14:56,614 And that's what Malcolm represented for us. 292 00:14:56,688 --> 00:15:00,648 You know, that black man that wasn't gonna take this shit anymore. 293 00:15:04,488 --> 00:15:07,658 Malcolm's death never sat right with me. 294 00:15:07,741 --> 00:15:11,121 There were too many unanswered questions. 295 00:15:11,203 --> 00:15:14,623 And for the better part of 30 years, 296 00:15:14,706 --> 00:15:18,666 I've dedicated my life to understanding this story. 297 00:15:20,546 --> 00:15:21,756 I'm not a lawyer. 298 00:15:21,839 --> 00:15:24,839 I don't have a Ph.D. I don't have a Master's. 299 00:15:24,925 --> 00:15:28,465 I'm not what you would call, even, a professional. 300 00:15:28,554 --> 00:15:30,894 I have no shame about that. 301 00:15:30,973 --> 00:15:33,393 Just a regular brother who felt 302 00:15:33,475 --> 00:15:35,635 that Malcolm deserved justice. 303 00:15:37,229 --> 00:15:39,479 Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Abdur Rahman, 304 00:15:39,565 --> 00:15:40,725 I'll be your narrator. 305 00:15:40,816 --> 00:15:42,526 This portion of the tour, 306 00:15:42,609 --> 00:15:44,899 on behalf of Arlington National Cemetery Tours, 307 00:15:44,987 --> 00:15:48,567 I'd like to welcome you all to Arlington National Cemetery. 308 00:15:48,657 --> 00:15:52,947 This is our nation's most sacred place of remembrance... 309 00:15:53,036 --> 00:15:56,206 [David Garrow] Abdur Rahman Muhammad is without question 310 00:15:56,290 --> 00:16:00,750 the most knowledgeable person about Malcolm's murder. 311 00:16:01,461 --> 00:16:03,841 He's been an independent researcher 312 00:16:03,922 --> 00:16:08,142 working on this for a good number of years now. 313 00:16:08,218 --> 00:16:09,848 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Look to the driver's side, 314 00:16:09,928 --> 00:16:12,508 the large memorial there in the center of the... 315 00:16:12,598 --> 00:16:15,268 [Garrow] He has invested hundreds of hours 316 00:16:15,350 --> 00:16:18,900 tracking down direct first-hand evidence 317 00:16:18,979 --> 00:16:21,609 of the conspiracy to kill Malcolm X. 318 00:16:21,690 --> 00:16:23,480 ...brutally assassinated in June of 1963. 319 00:16:23,567 --> 00:16:25,487 [Garrow] No one alive has done more 320 00:16:25,569 --> 00:16:28,739 to solve Malcolm's killing than Abdur Rahman Muhammad. 321 00:16:28,822 --> 00:16:29,992 ...state of Mississippi 322 00:16:30,073 --> 00:16:31,873 to become the first field secretary 323 00:16:31,950 --> 00:16:33,490 for the NAACP at that time. 324 00:16:33,577 --> 00:16:35,907 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Early on, I had read enough to think 325 00:16:35,996 --> 00:16:38,366 that the case was a sham, all right? 326 00:16:38,457 --> 00:16:39,827 That it was a fraud. 327 00:16:39,917 --> 00:16:43,297 I had read enough to believe that the killers were 328 00:16:43,378 --> 00:16:44,378 still out there. 329 00:16:44,463 --> 00:16:46,013 It's been a great honor and privilege 330 00:16:46,089 --> 00:16:49,299 to share this rich and auspicious history with you. 331 00:16:49,384 --> 00:16:51,144 Never been afraid of the truth. 332 00:16:51,220 --> 00:16:55,140 I always wanted to know, what is the real story? 333 00:16:55,224 --> 00:16:57,604 Whatever it is, I'll deal with it. 334 00:16:58,519 --> 00:17:01,519 I decided that, you know, if it was ever possible 335 00:17:01,605 --> 00:17:05,355 for me to find these people, that I would find them. 336 00:17:05,442 --> 00:17:09,202 I mean, this is Malcolm X we're talking about! 337 00:17:17,913 --> 00:17:19,373 [Herbert J. Stern] It was a Sunday. 338 00:17:19,456 --> 00:17:21,576 I had the homicide duty. 339 00:17:21,667 --> 00:17:25,587 Usually, there wasn't much homicide activity, you know, 340 00:17:25,671 --> 00:17:27,881 certainly not in the afternoons. 341 00:17:29,299 --> 00:17:32,299 I was in a bar, dancing. 342 00:17:32,386 --> 00:17:34,426 And you know, the dancing in those days 343 00:17:34,513 --> 00:17:36,813 was a lot of leaping in the air. 344 00:17:36,890 --> 00:17:38,680 I remember the name of the place too, 345 00:17:38,767 --> 00:17:40,187 it was called Ondine's. 346 00:17:41,103 --> 00:17:42,603 It doesn't exist anymore. 347 00:17:42,688 --> 00:17:46,688 It was on, I think, 57th Street right under the bridge. 348 00:17:48,235 --> 00:17:51,065 I heard somebody say, "You hear? Malcolm X was shot." 349 00:17:52,739 --> 00:17:58,499 In this whole bar, there was one booth with a telephone, 350 00:17:59,663 --> 00:18:01,373 and it was occupied. 351 00:18:02,332 --> 00:18:03,672 But I had a badge, you know. 352 00:18:03,750 --> 00:18:05,090 So I took my badge out, 353 00:18:05,169 --> 00:18:06,999 and I went over to the booth and knocked on the thing. 354 00:18:07,087 --> 00:18:10,337 Guy looked up, and I said... Showed him the badge. "Out!" 355 00:18:10,424 --> 00:18:13,224 And I called Manhattan North Homicide. 356 00:18:14,428 --> 00:18:17,178 They said, "Mr. Stern, where have you been? 357 00:18:17,264 --> 00:18:18,974 We have been looking for you." 358 00:18:21,435 --> 00:18:24,185 [reporter] Chief, could you describe what happened here today? 359 00:18:24,271 --> 00:18:27,321 [police chief] At about 3:15 p.m. this afternoon, 360 00:18:27,399 --> 00:18:31,609 there were about 400 persons present in the ballroom here, 361 00:18:31,695 --> 00:18:34,155 representing an organization 362 00:18:34,239 --> 00:18:35,989 headed up by Malcolm X. 363 00:18:36,074 --> 00:18:38,994 [reporter] There were no police at this meeting, were there, Inspector? 364 00:18:39,077 --> 00:18:43,327 There were no uniformed policemen assigned inside this ballroom. 365 00:18:43,415 --> 00:18:46,835 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] When the police arrived at the Audubon, 366 00:18:46,919 --> 00:18:49,169 there was no sense of urgency. 367 00:18:49,254 --> 00:18:52,844 And this was noticed by a lot of people. 368 00:18:52,925 --> 00:18:55,925 Almost as if they knew this was going to happen. 369 00:18:56,011 --> 00:18:58,971 Almost as if they wanted it to happen. 370 00:18:59,056 --> 00:19:01,476 [Bailey] The police, they looked so nonchalant. 371 00:19:01,558 --> 00:19:05,308 It just really... It angered me when I saw it. 372 00:19:05,395 --> 00:19:07,765 They was just strolling through the Audubon Ballroom 373 00:19:07,856 --> 00:19:11,686 like they was on a Sunday stroll in Central Park. 374 00:19:11,777 --> 00:19:14,317 And people were on the floor, chairs overturned, 375 00:19:14,404 --> 00:19:16,534 people were still crying and screaming. 376 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,990 [Stern] The crime scene was a total mess. 377 00:19:22,246 --> 00:19:24,956 The whole place was in total disarray. 378 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,040 [camera shutter clicking] 379 00:19:27,125 --> 00:19:29,085 There was nothing to see at the scene 380 00:19:29,169 --> 00:19:30,999 that would have helped me as a lawyer on the case. 381 00:19:31,088 --> 00:19:32,628 [camera shutter clicking] 382 00:19:32,714 --> 00:19:34,844 We knew that Malcolm had stood up 383 00:19:34,925 --> 00:19:37,215 in front of a very crowded ballroom 384 00:19:37,302 --> 00:19:39,762 and that the shooters massacred him 385 00:19:40,556 --> 00:19:42,716 in the presence of his family. 386 00:19:42,808 --> 00:19:44,768 Boom, boom, boom, boom. They just blew him apart. 387 00:19:46,395 --> 00:19:50,065 [police chief] We have found one weapon at the scene. 388 00:19:50,148 --> 00:19:52,228 A shotgun, which, I'm sorry, 389 00:19:52,317 --> 00:19:53,487 I cannot describe for-- 390 00:19:53,569 --> 00:19:55,949 - [reporter] A sawed-off shotgun? - Sawed-off shotgun. 391 00:19:56,029 --> 00:19:57,989 [Stern] Actually, we knew that there were 392 00:19:58,073 --> 00:19:59,243 three kinds of weapons. 393 00:20:01,410 --> 00:20:02,700 There was a shotgun. 394 00:20:03,662 --> 00:20:06,582 There was a.45, 395 00:20:06,665 --> 00:20:09,665 and then there was some sort of... like a Luger. 396 00:20:11,003 --> 00:20:13,263 [reporter] Where was Malcolm hit? 397 00:20:13,338 --> 00:20:17,048 He sustained one shot in the lower right chin 398 00:20:17,134 --> 00:20:20,894 and the others hit him in the chest and, uh, body. 399 00:20:22,139 --> 00:20:26,229 [Stern] I knew that one of the shooters, 400 00:20:26,310 --> 00:20:29,230 one carrying a.45, had run, 401 00:20:29,313 --> 00:20:32,523 and was shot by one of Malcolm's bodyguards. 402 00:20:32,608 --> 00:20:33,818 [people shouting] 403 00:20:33,901 --> 00:20:36,951 He managed to stagger into the street 404 00:20:37,029 --> 00:20:38,659 and then the mob tried to kill him. 405 00:20:40,991 --> 00:20:43,161 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] By then, the police had finally arrived 406 00:20:43,243 --> 00:20:45,703 and they rescued him from almost certain death. 407 00:20:47,664 --> 00:20:52,714 He was immediately arrested, and he was found with a weapon. 408 00:20:52,794 --> 00:20:55,464 So, that was kind of, "Case closed" for him. 409 00:20:57,883 --> 00:20:59,683 What bothers me the most 410 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,050 is that the other gunmen got away 411 00:21:02,888 --> 00:21:05,218 because there was no police. 412 00:21:05,307 --> 00:21:07,427 Were it not for the fact that 413 00:21:07,518 --> 00:21:10,398 one of Malcolm's security detail 414 00:21:10,479 --> 00:21:12,519 shot this man in the leg, 415 00:21:12,606 --> 00:21:15,936 all of the assassins would've got away. 416 00:21:18,070 --> 00:21:20,240 [Zaheer Ali] Law enforcement did not secure 417 00:21:20,322 --> 00:21:21,532 the scene of the crime. 418 00:21:21,615 --> 00:21:26,445 In fact, there was a dance scheduled for 7:00 p.m. that evening, 419 00:21:26,537 --> 00:21:29,957 and the ballroom was cleaned up and prepared for the dance, 420 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:31,670 which went on as scheduled, 421 00:21:31,750 --> 00:21:33,590 with the bullets probably still in the wall. 422 00:21:34,837 --> 00:21:37,707 It made the process of the investigation 423 00:21:37,798 --> 00:21:40,718 seem haphazard at best, 424 00:21:40,801 --> 00:21:42,261 botched, at worst. 425 00:21:42,344 --> 00:21:45,104 Maybe convenient to someone? 426 00:21:46,598 --> 00:21:50,638 It's just one of the reasons why many people 427 00:21:50,727 --> 00:21:54,817 have continued questions about the assassination 428 00:21:54,898 --> 00:21:57,818 and the role of law enforcement, 429 00:21:57,901 --> 00:22:02,161 either actively or passively, in this happening. 430 00:22:11,748 --> 00:22:13,788 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Did people know it was coming? 431 00:22:13,876 --> 00:22:15,496 Did they get the right guys? 432 00:22:15,586 --> 00:22:18,666 There was just so many stones still unturned. 433 00:22:18,755 --> 00:22:21,425 And it just kept bugging me and bugging me. 434 00:22:24,428 --> 00:22:27,058 Somewhere in my path, 435 00:22:27,139 --> 00:22:31,599 I decided that I need to drill down on Malcolm's case. 436 00:22:34,104 --> 00:22:40,364 My initial research began in the FBI Hoover building. 437 00:22:40,444 --> 00:22:43,494 I've gone through the files in the Library of Congress. 438 00:22:43,572 --> 00:22:45,782 You know, anything that I could get my hands on 439 00:22:45,866 --> 00:22:48,576 to get clues as to who is responsible 440 00:22:48,660 --> 00:22:50,330 for this horrific crime. 441 00:22:51,496 --> 00:22:53,246 But I've never seen 442 00:22:53,332 --> 00:22:55,082 the District Attorney's case files 443 00:22:55,167 --> 00:22:57,917 or any evidence from the crime scene. 444 00:22:59,213 --> 00:23:01,593 [Lorenzini] So, we have a number of collections 445 00:23:01,673 --> 00:23:04,183 at the Archives related to Malcolm X 446 00:23:04,259 --> 00:23:05,889 and the assassination of Malcolm X. 447 00:23:05,969 --> 00:23:08,389 - There's the DA's case files. - [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Okay. 448 00:23:08,472 --> 00:23:10,352 [Lorenzini] Homicide case files, 449 00:23:10,432 --> 00:23:12,942 and then there's the NYPD photograph collection. 450 00:23:13,727 --> 00:23:15,477 If we look in here, 451 00:23:15,562 --> 00:23:19,322 this is the NYPD Photo Unit Manhattan's logbook. 452 00:23:19,399 --> 00:23:21,489 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] So this book would have been 453 00:23:21,568 --> 00:23:23,148 at the, uh, precinct. 454 00:23:23,237 --> 00:23:25,237 [Lorenzini] This would have been at the precinct. 455 00:23:25,322 --> 00:23:27,412 Every time an officer comes on duty, 456 00:23:27,491 --> 00:23:29,241 they sign in, they sign out, 457 00:23:29,326 --> 00:23:30,906 um, they get a call. 458 00:23:30,994 --> 00:23:33,414 And then you see here, at 3:45. 459 00:23:33,497 --> 00:23:35,707 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] 3:45 is when the call was made. 460 00:23:35,791 --> 00:23:37,581 [Lorenzini] To the Audubon Ballroom, 461 00:23:37,668 --> 00:23:39,958 "to photograph scene where Malcolm X Little, 462 00:23:40,045 --> 00:23:41,755 male Negro, 39, 463 00:23:41,839 --> 00:23:45,009 was allegedly shot by unknown perpetrators. 464 00:23:45,092 --> 00:23:47,592 Photos of ballroom and surrounding area taken 465 00:23:47,678 --> 00:23:50,348 in black and white and color," which is very rare. 466 00:23:50,430 --> 00:23:51,890 Very rare for them to shoot color. 467 00:23:51,974 --> 00:23:53,394 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] Do those color photographs exist? 468 00:23:53,475 --> 00:23:55,555 [Lorenzini] Those color photographs do exist. 469 00:23:55,644 --> 00:23:58,524 And here's some copies of what... 470 00:23:58,605 --> 00:24:00,765 - [Muhammad] Wow. - Of those. 471 00:24:00,858 --> 00:24:04,818 So here we have backstage at the ballroom. 472 00:24:05,737 --> 00:24:07,867 So there's the stage of the ballroom. 473 00:24:07,948 --> 00:24:10,078 And you can see where they've circled here. 474 00:24:10,158 --> 00:24:13,748 All those chalk marks, those are bullet holes. 475 00:24:13,829 --> 00:24:15,499 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] That is incredible. 476 00:24:15,581 --> 00:24:17,711 [Lorenzini] This is the stairwell. 477 00:24:17,791 --> 00:24:20,671 Some of the assailants ran out the back stairwell. 478 00:24:20,752 --> 00:24:22,632 Um, I think there's something 479 00:24:22,713 --> 00:24:24,923 like 65 photographs of this scene. 480 00:24:25,007 --> 00:24:28,717 So was there a lot of evidence collected at the scene? 481 00:24:28,802 --> 00:24:30,182 [Lorenzini] There was. 482 00:24:30,262 --> 00:24:33,352 What we have is what's in the New York DA's case files. 483 00:24:33,432 --> 00:24:37,142 So now that the DA has turned this over to your office, 484 00:24:37,227 --> 00:24:40,057 is it now considered a closed case? 485 00:24:40,147 --> 00:24:42,817 Anything that the DA's office turns over to us 486 00:24:42,900 --> 00:24:45,490 would normally be considered a closed case file. 487 00:24:45,569 --> 00:24:49,739 Um, but that doesn't mean that cases still can't get reopened. 488 00:24:49,823 --> 00:24:51,913 [Muhammad] Well, there's no statute of limitations 489 00:24:51,992 --> 00:24:53,412 - on murder. - Right. 490 00:24:53,493 --> 00:24:56,043 [Muhammad] If, for example, this case could be reopened. 491 00:24:56,121 --> 00:24:57,121 [Lorenzini] Right. 492 00:24:57,206 --> 00:24:59,916 It's quite probable that this material 493 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:01,630 - would be utilized in it. - Yeah, that's true. 494 00:25:01,710 --> 00:25:03,750 You know, could always be reopened. 495 00:25:03,837 --> 00:25:05,127 [Muhammad] Could always be reopened. 496 00:25:05,214 --> 00:25:07,554 [Lorenzini] And that's evidence, not just history. 497 00:25:07,633 --> 00:25:08,633 [Muhammad] Right. 498 00:25:15,015 --> 00:25:16,975 [reporter] Did he ever discuss with you 499 00:25:17,059 --> 00:25:19,649 the likelihood that he would be assassinated? 500 00:25:19,728 --> 00:25:23,108 [Shabazz] Uh, yes, we discussed it many times. 501 00:25:23,190 --> 00:25:26,400 Several attempts had been made on his life. 502 00:25:26,485 --> 00:25:28,445 The police and the press tried to make it look 503 00:25:28,529 --> 00:25:31,199 like he bombed his own home, which was ridiculous. 504 00:25:31,281 --> 00:25:33,991 I mean, he had no insurance on the furniture 505 00:25:34,076 --> 00:25:37,076 or himself or anything like that, 506 00:25:37,162 --> 00:25:39,752 and now I guess they'll say he shot himself. 507 00:25:41,542 --> 00:25:45,132 [sirens wailing] 508 00:25:45,212 --> 00:25:47,512 [police chief] We're in the process now of trying 509 00:25:47,589 --> 00:25:50,259 to interview every person who was in the ballroom 510 00:25:50,342 --> 00:25:53,012 and get as much information as we can 511 00:25:53,095 --> 00:25:55,135 to find the killers of Malcolm X. 512 00:25:55,222 --> 00:25:56,682 [Stern] The assignment for the police 513 00:25:56,765 --> 00:25:59,515 was to interview every single person 514 00:25:59,601 --> 00:26:00,941 that they could identify. 515 00:26:01,895 --> 00:26:04,145 "Who'd you sit next to? Who'd you sit next to? 516 00:26:04,231 --> 00:26:05,611 Who did you know? Who did you see?" 517 00:26:05,691 --> 00:26:07,111 [reporter] Did you see what happened, sir? 518 00:26:07,192 --> 00:26:08,442 [witness 1] No, I just came in when it all happened. 519 00:26:08,527 --> 00:26:10,647 All I could see was smoke and shooting. 520 00:26:10,737 --> 00:26:12,027 [reporter] Did you see what happened, dear? 521 00:26:12,114 --> 00:26:13,824 [witness 2] No, no, no. No. 522 00:26:13,907 --> 00:26:17,287 [witness 3] I see two men rush up in to the platform. 523 00:26:17,369 --> 00:26:20,459 [Stern] They knew almost nobody to start with. 524 00:26:20,539 --> 00:26:23,959 And then they began to find names as they went through. 525 00:26:24,042 --> 00:26:27,502 I mean, it wasn't Sherlock Holmes, you know? 526 00:26:27,588 --> 00:26:29,168 "Who did you see? 527 00:26:29,256 --> 00:26:32,296 Did you recognize anybody?" Some people did. 528 00:26:32,384 --> 00:26:34,014 [witness 4] There were two fellas. 529 00:26:34,094 --> 00:26:36,314 One was a Black Muslim. Ran and start shooting. 530 00:26:36,388 --> 00:26:38,018 - They were Black Muslims? - [witness 4] Yes, sir. 531 00:26:38,098 --> 00:26:40,518 They were Black Muslims 'cause I recognized them. 532 00:26:43,187 --> 00:26:48,607 [Aziz] The day of the murder, which was a Sunday morning, 533 00:26:48,692 --> 00:26:51,242 I was laying across the couch, with my foot up, 534 00:26:52,196 --> 00:26:55,196 and I heard it over the radio. 535 00:26:55,282 --> 00:26:57,372 [news anchor] Breaking news out of New York City. 536 00:26:57,451 --> 00:26:59,701 Four bullets from an assassin's gun 537 00:26:59,786 --> 00:27:02,956 have taken the life of black nationalist leader Malcolm X. 538 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,880 [Aziz] Four days later, they came and got me. 539 00:27:07,044 --> 00:27:09,134 The fact is I spent 20 years in prison 540 00:27:09,213 --> 00:27:11,303 for a crime that I didn't commit. 541 00:27:11,381 --> 00:27:13,881 [reporter] Watch the wire, watch the wire. 542 00:27:13,967 --> 00:27:15,677 Has he signed a statement, sir? 543 00:27:15,761 --> 00:27:17,801 [Zak A. Kondo] On February the 26th, 544 00:27:17,888 --> 00:27:20,558 Norman 3X Butler, 545 00:27:20,641 --> 00:27:22,231 who is a lieutenant, 546 00:27:22,309 --> 00:27:23,439 he's arrested. 547 00:27:23,519 --> 00:27:25,309 And then on March the 3rd, 548 00:27:25,395 --> 00:27:28,895 Thomas 15X Johnson is arrested. 549 00:27:28,982 --> 00:27:30,902 [police chief] We were able to arrest 550 00:27:30,984 --> 00:27:32,284 a third suspect this afternoon 551 00:27:32,361 --> 00:27:35,241 in the assassination of Malcolm X. 552 00:27:37,741 --> 00:27:39,911 He's going to be charged with acting in concert 553 00:27:39,993 --> 00:27:41,703 with the others now arrested. 554 00:27:41,787 --> 00:27:44,457 [Stern] These people who were members of the Nation of Islam, 555 00:27:44,540 --> 00:27:48,420 they were an extremely militant faction. 556 00:27:48,502 --> 00:27:51,632 [Muhammad] Butler and Johnson were from the Harlem mosque, 557 00:27:51,713 --> 00:27:54,803 Mosque number 7, Malcolm's mosque. 558 00:27:54,883 --> 00:27:56,973 From the very beginning, 559 00:27:57,052 --> 00:28:00,432 the focus of the investigation was on Harlem, 560 00:28:00,514 --> 00:28:02,354 and on Butler and Johnson. 561 00:28:02,432 --> 00:28:05,642 Because they were known enforcers in the community 562 00:28:05,727 --> 00:28:08,897 who had been arrested for other crimes, 563 00:28:08,981 --> 00:28:11,111 and they were the prime suspects. 564 00:28:12,484 --> 00:28:16,284 [Aziz] I was always one of those few out front. 565 00:28:16,363 --> 00:28:19,243 So the police officers came to us, 566 00:28:19,324 --> 00:28:21,704 because we were all, in effect, on their radar. 567 00:28:21,785 --> 00:28:24,825 But that doesn't mean that we had anything to do with anything. 568 00:28:24,913 --> 00:28:26,213 'Cause actually, we didn't. 569 00:28:27,958 --> 00:28:29,748 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] The only thing they had 570 00:28:29,835 --> 00:28:33,625 was very contradictory eyewitness testimony. 571 00:28:33,714 --> 00:28:34,844 That's all they had. 572 00:28:34,923 --> 00:28:38,513 There was no physical evidence to speak of. 573 00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:41,680 [Tony Bouza] I thought it was a failure. 574 00:28:41,763 --> 00:28:45,273 I thought it was mishandled from beginning to end. 575 00:28:45,350 --> 00:28:47,850 The NYPD had a few shooters 576 00:28:47,936 --> 00:28:50,936 and they were relieved, as we all were, 577 00:28:51,023 --> 00:28:54,443 uh, to death, relieved to death. 578 00:28:54,526 --> 00:28:57,236 If I'd been chief, it would have been different. 579 00:28:57,321 --> 00:28:59,741 Uh, that's not the way I worked. 580 00:28:59,823 --> 00:29:01,873 If you get the shooters, 581 00:29:01,950 --> 00:29:03,740 you better get the guy who sent them. 582 00:29:05,996 --> 00:29:09,366 [Kondo] Initially, after talking to witnesses, 583 00:29:09,458 --> 00:29:13,418 the NYPD let it be known, and accurately, I should say, 584 00:29:13,504 --> 00:29:15,844 they were seeking five killers, 585 00:29:15,923 --> 00:29:18,683 that there were five men who were part of this team, 586 00:29:18,759 --> 00:29:20,049 and they were searching Harlem, 587 00:29:20,135 --> 00:29:22,675 and other places, looking for them. 588 00:29:22,763 --> 00:29:26,733 But after they got Butler, Johnson, and Hayer, 589 00:29:26,808 --> 00:29:31,938 the NYPD said, "Case is closed." 590 00:29:32,022 --> 00:29:34,442 [Stern] We locked up Butler and Johnson 591 00:29:34,525 --> 00:29:35,815 in a matter of a couple of weeks, 592 00:29:35,901 --> 00:29:38,701 which was quite a feat. 593 00:29:38,779 --> 00:29:42,239 [interviewer] But is it possible that you arrested the wrong guys? 594 00:29:43,867 --> 00:29:46,537 Uh, why would you ask me a question like that? 595 00:29:46,620 --> 00:29:50,250 How can any human being answer a question like that? 596 00:29:50,332 --> 00:29:53,172 They were proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 597 00:29:54,461 --> 00:29:56,381 Are you going to say it's not possible? 598 00:29:56,463 --> 00:29:57,803 You going to say that? 599 00:29:57,881 --> 00:29:59,511 If I put you on the camera, are you going to say that? 600 00:29:59,591 --> 00:30:00,971 You're not going to say that? 601 00:30:01,051 --> 00:30:02,301 Answer me, you going to say that? 602 00:30:02,386 --> 00:30:03,636 [interviewer, softly] No. 603 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:05,640 Okay, then we're in the same boat. 604 00:30:09,893 --> 00:30:14,403 [people clamoring] 605 00:30:27,619 --> 00:30:29,789 [Sinnette] When Malcolm was killed, 606 00:30:29,872 --> 00:30:33,082 people were just torn apart 607 00:30:33,166 --> 00:30:34,836 by what had happened. 608 00:30:36,211 --> 00:30:37,921 [reporter] What did Malcolm X mean to you? 609 00:30:38,005 --> 00:30:39,085 He's a hero to me. 610 00:30:39,173 --> 00:30:40,633 He stood out among all black people. 611 00:30:40,716 --> 00:30:42,376 He showed the white man where it was at. 612 00:30:42,467 --> 00:30:43,967 [woman] That's right. 613 00:30:44,052 --> 00:30:46,762 [woman 2] He meant a great deal to me and my people. 614 00:30:47,806 --> 00:30:50,346 I couldn't have cried any more, I don't believe, 615 00:30:50,434 --> 00:30:52,524 if I had lost my mother. 616 00:30:57,399 --> 00:31:00,109 [Bailey] Sister Betty asked me to be a pallbearer, 617 00:31:01,195 --> 00:31:02,855 and at that time, 618 00:31:02,946 --> 00:31:05,156 I was feeling very full of grief. 619 00:31:06,491 --> 00:31:09,241 Unlike any that I had ever felt before or since. 620 00:31:12,581 --> 00:31:14,211 [reporter] And you're saying that you believe 621 00:31:14,291 --> 00:31:15,581 this was paid for by whites? 622 00:31:15,667 --> 00:31:17,207 [man] Yeah, by white people. 623 00:31:17,294 --> 00:31:19,054 Anytime a black man in this country stands up 624 00:31:19,129 --> 00:31:21,589 for his constitutional rights, he dies. 625 00:31:21,673 --> 00:31:22,803 [helicopter whirring] 626 00:31:22,883 --> 00:31:24,643 [woman] I know it wasn't no accident 627 00:31:24,718 --> 00:31:26,678 from what I hear Malcolm X say the other night. 628 00:31:26,762 --> 00:31:28,642 [reporter] Who do you believe is responsible for his death? 629 00:31:28,722 --> 00:31:30,432 The white power structure in America is behind it. 630 00:31:30,516 --> 00:31:33,386 And they're quick to capitalize on it by saying that, uh, 631 00:31:33,477 --> 00:31:35,847 one of his own kind did it, but they put it up to be done. 632 00:31:37,689 --> 00:31:40,189 [Bilal] All of us was thinking then 633 00:31:40,275 --> 00:31:43,355 that the hidden hand behind Malcolm's assassination 634 00:31:43,445 --> 00:31:48,195 was the big boys down in Washington, 635 00:31:48,283 --> 00:31:51,623 but that maybe members of the Nation of Islam 636 00:31:51,703 --> 00:31:53,373 probably were the trigger men. 637 00:31:53,455 --> 00:31:55,995 [news anchor] Malcolm X's pallbearers vow vengeance 638 00:31:56,083 --> 00:31:57,923 on the Black Muslims' leader, 639 00:31:58,001 --> 00:31:59,341 Elijah Muhammad. 640 00:31:59,419 --> 00:32:02,129 They feel it is he that ordered Malcolm's execution. 641 00:32:02,214 --> 00:32:04,174 [reporter] What's going to happen now, do you think? 642 00:32:04,258 --> 00:32:05,588 It's going to be a whole lot of hurting 643 00:32:05,676 --> 00:32:07,466 before this whole thing is over. That's what I think. 644 00:32:07,553 --> 00:32:08,603 [reporter] Because of his death? 645 00:32:08,679 --> 00:32:10,139 Because of his death, whoever did it, 646 00:32:10,222 --> 00:32:12,522 Muslims or whoever, there's gonna be a whole lot of hurtin'. 647 00:32:12,599 --> 00:32:14,349 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] But Malcolm's followers 648 00:32:14,434 --> 00:32:17,274 wanted to take some heads, okay? 649 00:32:17,354 --> 00:32:18,814 They want revenge. 650 00:32:18,897 --> 00:32:20,227 [sirens wailing] 651 00:32:20,315 --> 00:32:22,475 [news anchor] Two days after the murder of Malcolm X, 652 00:32:22,568 --> 00:32:25,108 an explosion destroyed the Muslim mosque in Harlem 653 00:32:25,195 --> 00:32:26,525 in what appeared to be the first act 654 00:32:26,613 --> 00:32:27,783 of retribution for the murder. 655 00:32:29,283 --> 00:32:31,993 Elijah Muhammad himself is said to be a marked man, 656 00:32:32,077 --> 00:32:34,657 with followers of Malcolm X swearing vengeance. 657 00:32:34,746 --> 00:32:39,376 If you would like to follow anyone against me, 658 00:32:39,459 --> 00:32:41,209 go ahead and do it, 659 00:32:41,295 --> 00:32:43,705 but I fear for you. 660 00:32:45,007 --> 00:32:47,627 [news anchor] The south side Chicago home of Elijah Muhammad 661 00:32:47,718 --> 00:32:50,218 was under heavy police guard today. 662 00:32:50,304 --> 00:32:53,104 Squad cars were posted at the front and rear. 663 00:32:53,182 --> 00:32:55,102 All who sought entrance to the house 664 00:32:55,184 --> 00:32:58,024 were frisked by Muhammad's own guard force, 665 00:32:58,103 --> 00:33:01,823 the group of husky young Negroes known as the Fruit of Islam. 666 00:33:01,899 --> 00:33:04,739 [John Ali] This is the house that the Messenger built. 667 00:33:06,737 --> 00:33:08,857 That was their living room there. 668 00:33:08,947 --> 00:33:10,867 That was his bedroom there. 669 00:33:12,743 --> 00:33:15,583 And his secretaries worked on the third floor 670 00:33:15,662 --> 00:33:17,752 and those were his offices there. 671 00:33:20,375 --> 00:33:22,955 I lived here for nine months 672 00:33:23,045 --> 00:33:25,755 when I came to Chicago. 673 00:33:26,548 --> 00:33:28,508 On the third floor in the back, 674 00:33:28,592 --> 00:33:30,472 there was an apartment back there. 675 00:33:33,096 --> 00:33:35,676 I was the secretary of New York. 676 00:33:35,766 --> 00:33:37,726 Until the Honorable Elijah Muhammad 677 00:33:37,809 --> 00:33:41,269 brought me here to Chicago in 1960. 678 00:33:41,355 --> 00:33:43,265 [news anchor] Meeting with reporters in his living room, 679 00:33:43,357 --> 00:33:46,317 Muhammad had this evaluation of Malcolm X's killing. 680 00:33:46,401 --> 00:33:50,821 Malcolm, uh, is the victim of his own preaching. 681 00:33:50,906 --> 00:33:52,196 He preached violence, 682 00:33:52,282 --> 00:33:53,782 and so he become the victim of it. 683 00:33:53,867 --> 00:33:55,037 [reporter] Well, Malcolm X said that 684 00:33:55,118 --> 00:33:57,118 the Black Muslims were trying to kill him, 685 00:33:57,204 --> 00:33:58,834 and he was going to name those 686 00:33:58,914 --> 00:34:00,544 he thought would commit the crime yesterday 687 00:34:00,624 --> 00:34:03,044 before he was shot. Could you comment on that? 688 00:34:03,752 --> 00:34:05,092 I wasn't there, 689 00:34:05,170 --> 00:34:08,130 but I don't believe that any of my followers was there. 690 00:34:08,215 --> 00:34:10,375 They had nothing to do with it at all. 691 00:34:10,467 --> 00:34:13,387 It was predicted that they would blame the Nation of Islam. 692 00:34:13,470 --> 00:34:14,680 Elijah Muhammad even said that. 693 00:34:14,763 --> 00:34:16,393 [news anchor] Elijah Muhammad and his followers 694 00:34:16,473 --> 00:34:18,143 claim innocence in the execution 695 00:34:18,225 --> 00:34:19,975 of their most famous defector, Malcolm X. 696 00:34:20,060 --> 00:34:21,980 [Khalilah Ali] Elijah Muhammad told everybody, 697 00:34:22,062 --> 00:34:26,782 "My believers, do not lay a hand on our brother, Malcolm X, 698 00:34:26,859 --> 00:34:30,649 because he is not aware of what he is doing. 699 00:34:30,737 --> 00:34:32,447 Give him time. 700 00:34:32,531 --> 00:34:35,911 Do not raise a hand against Malcolm X." 701 00:34:35,993 --> 00:34:39,043 He said that in the temple. I was there. 702 00:34:39,121 --> 00:34:42,121 I said to the government of America, 703 00:34:42,207 --> 00:34:44,377 we are a peaceful people. 704 00:34:45,210 --> 00:34:49,510 We have always tried to obey the law. 705 00:34:49,590 --> 00:34:50,840 We do that. 706 00:34:50,924 --> 00:34:53,804 I teach my followers to do it. 707 00:34:53,886 --> 00:34:56,506 [Akbar Muhammad] His words were, "Leave Malcolm alone," 708 00:34:56,597 --> 00:34:59,847 to all of his ministers and to all of us, 709 00:34:59,933 --> 00:35:01,193 "Leave Malcolm alone." 710 00:35:02,728 --> 00:35:05,768 And those who loved him and obeyed him, 711 00:35:05,856 --> 00:35:07,476 that's exactly what they did. 712 00:35:09,985 --> 00:35:11,945 [John Ali] You don't have lentil soup today? 713 00:35:12,029 --> 00:35:13,449 - [waiter] Lentil soup? - [John Ali] Yes. 714 00:35:13,530 --> 00:35:14,620 [waiter] We do have it 715 00:35:14,698 --> 00:35:16,118 but we don't put it on the buffet. 716 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,200 If you want to have it, we can get it for you, one order. 717 00:35:18,285 --> 00:35:19,905 - It's a lentil soup? - Yes. 718 00:35:19,995 --> 00:35:21,865 [waiter] Okay, I'll get it when you sit at the table. 719 00:35:22,539 --> 00:35:24,749 [John Ali] The lentil and the navy bean we eat, 720 00:35:25,834 --> 00:35:28,674 but not the lima beans or black-eyed peas. 721 00:35:29,296 --> 00:35:31,916 This is what the Messenger teaches. 722 00:35:32,007 --> 00:35:34,967 [waiter] This is fresh tandoori chicken from the clay oven. 723 00:35:35,052 --> 00:35:36,602 [John Ali] I had it before. It's okay. 724 00:35:36,678 --> 00:35:38,388 [waiter] You've had it before? Okay. 725 00:35:39,264 --> 00:35:42,064 [interviewer] Did you play a part in having Malcolm get killed? 726 00:35:42,142 --> 00:35:44,272 I could have, if I wanted to. 727 00:35:44,353 --> 00:35:46,813 [waiter] This is a lentil soup, the yellow color. 728 00:35:46,897 --> 00:35:48,227 [John Ali] You can put it right there. 729 00:35:49,024 --> 00:35:51,444 But I don't know who killed him. 730 00:35:52,027 --> 00:35:55,607 I know the Messenger didn't. I know I didn't order it, you know? 731 00:35:57,324 --> 00:36:00,454 Nobody from the FBI or local authorities, 732 00:36:00,536 --> 00:36:02,996 they never asked us anything about it. 733 00:36:03,622 --> 00:36:05,622 They've written in the papers 734 00:36:06,416 --> 00:36:09,836 that we ordered for Malcolm to be killed, 735 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:11,170 But we didn't. 736 00:36:13,549 --> 00:36:16,509 You know, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was a wise man. 737 00:36:17,302 --> 00:36:19,852 That he wouldn't do such a stupid thing 738 00:36:19,930 --> 00:36:22,720 as to order someone, you know, to be killed, 739 00:36:23,892 --> 00:36:25,982 Malcolm or anyone else. 740 00:36:27,563 --> 00:36:31,483 If it hadn't been for the Messenger saying, "Leave him alone," 741 00:36:32,609 --> 00:36:34,529 then he would have been killed, 742 00:36:36,822 --> 00:36:38,492 sooner than he was. 743 00:36:43,412 --> 00:36:46,332 [police sirens wailing] 744 00:36:51,753 --> 00:36:54,463 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] The key to understanding Malcolm's case 745 00:36:54,548 --> 00:36:56,548 is that from the very beginning, 746 00:36:56,633 --> 00:36:59,183 no one in the power structure 747 00:36:59,261 --> 00:37:01,851 gave a damn about what happened. 748 00:37:04,057 --> 00:37:07,847 His assassination was widely reported in the media, 749 00:37:07,936 --> 00:37:10,436 especially the white media. 750 00:37:10,522 --> 00:37:13,442 But there was almost a sense that they were gloating. 751 00:37:13,525 --> 00:37:17,065 A sense of glee that he had it coming, 752 00:37:17,154 --> 00:37:18,614 like he almost deserved this. 753 00:37:20,824 --> 00:37:23,544 [Garrow] It's clear, even in the New York Times 754 00:37:23,619 --> 00:37:25,909 in February of 1965, 755 00:37:25,996 --> 00:37:29,116 that white authorities and most white newsmen 756 00:37:29,208 --> 00:37:33,748 didn't take this killing all that seriously. 757 00:37:33,837 --> 00:37:39,757 That from their perspective, it's some intra-gang warfare 758 00:37:39,843 --> 00:37:44,103 among radical black extremists, 759 00:37:44,181 --> 00:37:49,061 that they don't value what Malcolm's life represented. 760 00:37:51,146 --> 00:37:55,396 But the real bottom line to everything we have here 761 00:37:55,484 --> 00:37:59,994 is that white prosecution authorities 762 00:38:00,072 --> 00:38:04,372 have never, across this entire chunk of time, 763 00:38:04,451 --> 00:38:06,201 decades of time, 764 00:38:06,286 --> 00:38:08,286 taken a serious interest 765 00:38:08,372 --> 00:38:13,712 in investigating, pursuing, solving Malcolm's murder. 766 00:38:17,589 --> 00:38:19,759 For Abdur Rahman Muhammad, 767 00:38:19,842 --> 00:38:23,552 this has been a very lonely crusade. 768 00:38:24,346 --> 00:38:26,306 Because time and again, 769 00:38:26,390 --> 00:38:29,980 he's had people who have some initial interest, 770 00:38:30,060 --> 00:38:31,980 and again and again, 771 00:38:32,062 --> 00:38:34,982 they've decided not to go forward. 772 00:38:35,065 --> 00:38:37,815 But Abdur Rahman has never given up. 773 00:38:37,901 --> 00:38:39,191 He's still on the case. 774 00:38:41,113 --> 00:38:44,783 [man chanting prayer] 775 00:38:48,745 --> 00:38:50,955 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] After I became a Muslim, 776 00:38:51,039 --> 00:38:54,129 I started moving in certain circles, 777 00:38:54,209 --> 00:38:55,919 and over the years, 778 00:38:56,003 --> 00:38:57,553 I started meeting people 779 00:38:57,629 --> 00:39:00,629 who knew things about the assassination. 780 00:39:00,716 --> 00:39:03,256 You know, who could talk first-hand about it. 781 00:39:03,343 --> 00:39:04,343 You know what I mean? 782 00:39:04,428 --> 00:39:06,348 I was like one or two people removed 783 00:39:06,430 --> 00:39:09,100 from actually being able to get certain information! 784 00:39:09,183 --> 00:39:11,443 [Imam] You are sitting in a place that, in its history, 785 00:39:11,518 --> 00:39:14,608 from the Nation of Islam under the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, 786 00:39:14,688 --> 00:39:16,018 that when he started... 787 00:39:16,106 --> 00:39:17,606 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] That's when I realized that, you know, 788 00:39:17,691 --> 00:39:20,941 "Hey, if I started asking the right questions, 789 00:39:21,028 --> 00:39:24,158 I could get some very significant answers." 790 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:26,699 And if you were commanded to, you had to have a card in your pocket. 791 00:39:26,783 --> 00:39:29,833 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] But one of the things that you learn quickly, 792 00:39:29,912 --> 00:39:33,332 is you can't ask a question too directly. 793 00:39:33,415 --> 00:39:36,375 If you ask a question too directly, 794 00:39:36,460 --> 00:39:38,670 you could be suspect, you know. 795 00:39:38,754 --> 00:39:40,344 Because then the question would become, 796 00:39:40,422 --> 00:39:41,882 "Why are you asking that, brother?" 797 00:39:41,965 --> 00:39:43,795 Assalam-alaikum, sister. 798 00:39:43,884 --> 00:39:45,264 Alhamdulillah. 799 00:39:45,344 --> 00:39:47,144 When Malcolm first got here, 800 00:39:47,221 --> 00:39:49,141 was there any inkling 801 00:39:49,223 --> 00:39:53,233 or any idea that maybe he was having a problem 802 00:39:53,310 --> 00:39:54,850 with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad? 803 00:39:54,937 --> 00:39:57,397 Or, uh, 'cause I know '63... 804 00:39:57,481 --> 00:39:59,861 Once I would learn something and I would file it away. 805 00:39:59,942 --> 00:40:02,402 And I'd connect this dot with that dot, 806 00:40:02,486 --> 00:40:06,566 or at least be pointed in a certain direction. 807 00:40:06,657 --> 00:40:09,577 You know, and it became more and more apparent to me 808 00:40:09,660 --> 00:40:12,000 that if anybody could break it, 809 00:40:12,079 --> 00:40:13,459 it would be me. 810 00:40:17,334 --> 00:40:20,254 Most serious historians believe 811 00:40:20,337 --> 00:40:24,467 there were five men who were the actual assassins. 812 00:40:27,928 --> 00:40:29,848 According to my research, 813 00:40:29,930 --> 00:40:32,640 I believe those assassins didn't come from Harlem 814 00:40:32,724 --> 00:40:34,894 as the police claimed. 815 00:40:36,478 --> 00:40:39,898 And I also believe that something has been covered up. 816 00:40:40,983 --> 00:40:43,153 We have at least one FBI document 817 00:40:43,235 --> 00:40:46,855 that gives a... you know, a perfect description 818 00:40:46,947 --> 00:40:49,447 of the man that they say fired the shotgun. 819 00:40:50,701 --> 00:40:52,491 They described him to a tee. 820 00:40:52,578 --> 00:40:58,828 Burly, big, dark-skinned man wearing a certain kind of coat. 821 00:41:00,294 --> 00:41:03,174 Complete opposite of the man they convicted. 822 00:41:03,255 --> 00:41:05,665 So someone in the government must have known 823 00:41:05,757 --> 00:41:07,547 that they might be convicting the wrong person, 824 00:41:07,634 --> 00:41:08,644 and they let it happen. 825 00:41:10,637 --> 00:41:14,597 And I think that it's only by looking deeply into Malcolm's life 826 00:41:14,683 --> 00:41:17,693 that the clues as to who actually killed him, 827 00:41:17,769 --> 00:41:20,809 and who knew it was coming, can be found. 828 00:41:22,524 --> 00:41:24,034 [woman] You are not only honoring 829 00:41:24,109 --> 00:41:26,489 Malcolm in the sunshine, 830 00:41:26,570 --> 00:41:28,280 but in the rain. 831 00:41:28,363 --> 00:41:30,163 And the prayer is that 832 00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:33,910 you're not only honoring him on his birthday, 833 00:41:33,994 --> 00:41:37,414 but every day with the work that you do. 834 00:41:37,497 --> 00:41:41,077 In the name of el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, 835 00:41:41,168 --> 00:41:44,758 in the name of freedom, and black liberation. 836 00:41:44,838 --> 00:41:49,218 Because that is how we truly honor Malcolm. 837 00:41:49,301 --> 00:41:51,601 [Abdur Rahman Muhammad] When we say we love Malcolm X, 838 00:41:51,678 --> 00:41:53,848 el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, 839 00:41:53,931 --> 00:41:56,061 we love him so much, 840 00:41:56,141 --> 00:41:59,101 we name high schools and institutions after him. 841 00:41:59,186 --> 00:42:01,436 He's one of our greatest heroes. 842 00:42:01,522 --> 00:42:04,322 [Malcolm X] You don't scare Negroes today 843 00:42:04,399 --> 00:42:07,819 with no badge, or no white skin, or no white sheet, 844 00:42:07,903 --> 00:42:10,783 or no white anything else. 845 00:42:10,864 --> 00:42:12,574 [Muhammad] Yet the real killers, 846 00:42:12,658 --> 00:42:14,488 the real culprits, 847 00:42:14,576 --> 00:42:16,996 both those who actually fired the trigger, 848 00:42:17,079 --> 00:42:19,409 and those who were, 849 00:42:19,498 --> 00:42:22,288 let's say, the puppet masters of the whole thing, 850 00:42:22,376 --> 00:42:23,786 were never brought to justice. 851 00:42:23,877 --> 00:42:25,667 But if you can't prove 852 00:42:25,754 --> 00:42:28,594 that a democracy is not hypocrisy, 853 00:42:28,674 --> 00:42:31,474 then don't put your hands on me. 854 00:42:34,388 --> 00:42:36,968 [Muhammad] There's no statute of limitations on murder. 855 00:42:37,057 --> 00:42:38,057 Yes! 856 00:42:38,141 --> 00:42:40,521 [Muhammad] There's no reason why 857 00:42:40,602 --> 00:42:43,652 this case cannot be looked at again. 858 00:42:44,940 --> 00:42:49,530 That is my mission. That is my purpose. 859 00:42:49,611 --> 00:42:52,781 As long as someone is still out there, 860 00:42:52,865 --> 00:42:55,735 you know, there is a chance, still, 861 00:42:55,826 --> 00:42:58,326 to get justice for Malcolm.