Muhammad Abdul Aziz

{{Short description|American man convicted for the assassination of Malcolm X}}

Muhammad Abdul Aziz ({{langx|ar|محمد عبد العزيز}}; formerly known as Norman 3X Butler; born June 27, 1938){{sfn|Doeden|2013|p=80}} is an American man who was convicted, and later exonerated, for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X – a conviction that was overturned in November 2021, decades after he was paroled in 1985.{{sfn|Jacobs|2021}}{{sfn|McFadden|1998}} Aziz maintained his innocence; and Mujahid Abdul Halim, who confessed to the murder, insisted that Aziz and Khalil Islam, another man who was convicted along with them, were innocent.{{sfn|Flynn|2020}}{{sfn|Innocence Project|2020}}{{sfn|Weiss|2020}}{{sfn|Leland|2020}}

Biography

Aziz was a member of the Fruit of Islam, the security arm of the Nation of Islam; though he later converted to Sunni Islam under the leadership of Warith Deen Mohammed. Butler changed his name to Muhammad Abdul Aziz while serving his prison sentence.{{sfn|Doeden|2013|p=80}} Aziz is also a veteran of the United States Navy, having enlisted in the late 1950s upon his completion of high school.{{sfn|Doeden|2013|p=48, 80}} In March 1998, he was appointed head of security for Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, a Sunni mosque in Harlem, New York, formerly known as NOI Mosque No. 7.{{sfn|McFadden|1998}}

In the days preceding the release of Who Killed Malcolm X?, a six-part Netflix documentary that aired February 7, 2020, New York County District Attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., announced a preliminary review of Aziz's conviction. On February 11, 2020, Vance met Aziz's attorney David Shanies and representatives of the Innocence Project with plans to re-investigate the case.{{sfn|Romo|2020}}

After having spent 20 years in prison and nearly 36 years on parole, on November 18, 2021, Aziz was exonerated and his murder conviction overturned, capping off a 22-month-long investigation.{{sfn|Jacobs|2021}} With assistance from the Manhattan district attorney's office, lawyers for Aziz and his late co-defendant Khalil Islam (formerly Thomas 15X Johnson) uncovered proof that the FBI and NYPD withheld key evidence from the March 1966{{Cite web|title='Fundamental justice:' Judge clears 2 in Malcolm X slaying|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/exonerations-men-convicted-malcolm-xs-1965-death-81249311|access-date=2021-11-19|website=ABC News|language=en}} murder trial that could have led to their acquittal.{{Cite news|last1=Southall|first1=Ashley|last2=Bromwich|first2=Jonah E.|date=2021-11-17|title=2 Men Convicted of Killing Malcolm X Will Be Exonerated After Decades|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/nyregion/malcolm-x-killing-exonerated.html|access-date=2021-11-19|issn=0362-4331}} Despite the exoneration, Aziz was in fact previously identified as one of the assassins by witnesses.{{cite book|title=Conspiracys (Conspiracies): Unravelling the Assassination of Malcolm X|first1=Zak A.|last1=Kondo|first2=Nia N.|last2=Kondo|publisher=Nubia Press|page=97|date=January 1, 1993}} A third co-defendant, Mujahid Abdul Halim, had his 2nd degree murder conviction upheld and remains on parole.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} Halim, who has not denied his role in the murder of Malcolm X, alleged in Who Killed Malcolm X? that his four co-conspirators all came from the Nation of Islam mosque in Newark and identified them as Benjamin Thomas, Leon Davis, William X, and a man by the name of either Wilbur or Kinly.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/nyregion/malcolm-x-assassination-halim-hayer.html|title=56 Years Ago, He Shot Malcolm X. Now He Lives Quietly in Brooklyn|first1=Jonah E.|last1=Bromwich|first2=Ashley|last2=Southall|first3=Troy|last3=Closson|work=New York Times|date=November 22, 2021|access-date=July 25, 2024}}

On July 14, 2022, after unsuccessful negotiations with the City of New York, Aziz filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, seeking $40 million in damages related to his wrongful imprisonment.{{Cite news|last=Southall|first=Ashley|date=2022-07-14|title=Man Exonerated in Malcolm X Murder Sues New York City After Talks Fail|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/14/nyregion/malcolm-x-murder-lawsuit-40-million.html|access-date=2022-07-15}} In October 2022, the lawsuit was settled in favor of Aziz and Islam, and the New York City Law Department issued a statement regretting the wrongful conviction of Aziz and Islam, stating in part "This settlement brings some measure of justice to individuals who spent decades in prison and bore the stigma of being falsely accused of murdering an iconic figure."{{cite news |title=Men exonerated in Malcolm X killing to receive $36 million |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-york-lawsuits-assassinations-b35dc68c2d4a2625f45e68f1fb37120a |access-date=31 October 2022 |work=Associated Press News |date=30 October 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Weiser |first1=Benjamin |title=New York to Pay $26 Million to Men Wrongly Convicted of Killing Malcolm X |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/30/nyregion/malcom-x-muhammad-aziz-khalil-islam-settlement.html |access-date=31 October 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=30 October 2022}}

References

Sources

{{Cite web|url=https://www.innocenceproject.org/malcolm-x-murder-innocent-aziz-butler/|title=An Innocent Man Spent 20 Years in Prison for Malcolm X's Murder|date=7 February 2020|website=Innocence Project|language=en-US|access-date=11 February 2020|ref={{harvid|Innocence Project|2020}}}}
{{Cite book|last=Doeden|first=Matt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jT6XAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|title=A Marked Man: The Assassination of Malcolm X|date=1 February 2013|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|isbn=978-1-4677-1054-1|language=en}}
{{Cite news|last=Flynn|first=Meagan|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/02/10/malcolmx-assassination-netflix/|title=Malcolm X assassination may be reinvestigated as Netflix documentary, lawyers cast doubt on convictions|date=10 February 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=11 February 2020}}
{{Cite news|last1=Jacobs|first1=Shayna|date=18 November 2021|title=Judge vacates convictions of Aziz, Islam in 1965 killing of Malcolm X|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/malcom-x-aziz-islam-cleared/2021/11/18/479f4b38-47f1-11ec-95dc-5f2a96e00fa3_story.html|access-date=18 November 2021}}
{{Cite news|last=Leland|first=John|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/nyregion/malcolm-x-assassination-case-reopened.html|title=Who Really Killed Malcolm X?|date=6 February 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=11 February 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
{{Cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/31/nyregion/an-assassin-of-malcolm-x-gets-islam-post.html|title=An Assassin Of Malcolm X Gets Islam Post|date=31 March 1998|work=The New York Times|access-date=11 February 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
{{Cite web|last=Romo|first=Vanessa|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/11/804933076/malcolm-x-doc-prompts-reexamination-of-iconic-leader-s-assassination-investigati|title=Malcolm X Doc Prompts 'Reexamination' Of Iconic Leader's Assassination Investigation|date=11 February 2020|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=13 February 2020}}
{{Cite web|last=Weiss|first=Debra Cassens|url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/prosecutors-consider-reviewing-convictions-in-malcolm-xs-1965-murder-after-documentary-raises-questions|title=Prosecutors consider reviewing convictions in Malcolm X's murder after documentary raises questions|date=7 February 2020|website=ABA Journal|language=en|access-date=11 February 2020}}

Muhammad Abdul Aziz

Biography

See also

References

Sources

Further reading