The legacy of Malcolm X
NEW YORK - Fifty years ago today, February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated while speaking at the Audobon Ballroom in Harlem. Three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of the Muslim minister and controversial human rights activist. Malcolm X had repudiated the Nation of Islam less than a year earlier.
Two of the men convicted maintained their innocence and were paroled in the 1980s. In 2010, Thomas Hagan, then 69, was also paroled. Hagan says he was one of three gunmen who shot Malcolm X, and had repeatedly expressed regret. He also maintained that the two men he was convicted with were innocent.