Malcolm X's Killer to Be Released

Thomas Hagan, 69, one of three men convicted of killing Malcolm X 45 years ago was granted release from weekends in prison in his 17th appearance before a New York State parole board.

For the past 22 years, however, Thomas, who confessed to killing Malcolm X, wasn't in prison much. He would spend a mere two days per week in prison. The other five days days he lived with his family in Brooklyn and worked at a fast food restaurant. But, on April 28 he will be freed and will no longer be required to spend the two days behind bars.

According to the New York Times:

Two other men, Muhammad Abdul Aziz (then known as Norman 3X Butler) and Kahlil Islam (then Thomas 15X Johnson), were also charged with the murder. They maintained their innocence. Mr. Hagan did not, testifying at his trial in 1966 that he was responsible for the murder and that his co-defendants were innocent. All three men were sentenced to 20 years to life. Mr. Hagan said in a 1977 affidavit that he and several accomplices (not Mr. Aziz or Mr. Islam) decided to kill Malcolm X because he was a “hypocrite” who had “gone against the leader of the Nation of Islam,” Elijah Muhammad. Mr. Hagan said that after one man shot Malcolm X in the chest with a shotgun, he and another man fired several more rounds at him.

Muhammad and Kahlil were freed 20 years ago.


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