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.
—
Photo:
Spencer
Platt
/
Getty
