Muhammad Abdul Aziz (formerly known as Norman 3X Butler; born 1938) is an American man who was wrongfully convicted in the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X – a conviction that was overturned in November 2021, decades after he was paroled in 1985. Aziz maintained his innocence; and

Mujahid Abdul Halim Thomas Hagan (; born March 16, 1941) is a former member of the Nation of Islam who was convicted for Assassination of Malcolm X, assassinating Malcolm X in 1965. For a while he also went by the name Talmadge X Hayer, and his chosen Islamic name is ...

, who admitted to the murder, insisted that Aziz and Khalil Islam, another man who was convicted along with them, were innocent.

Biography

Aziz was a member of the Fruit of Islam, the security arm of the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

; though he later converted to

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

under the leadership of Warith Deen Mohammed. Butler changed his name to Muhammad Abdul Aziz while serving his prison sentence. Aziz is also a veteran of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, having enlisted in the late 1950s upon his completion of high school. In March 1998, he was appointed head of security for

Masjid Malcolm Shabazz } Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, formerly known as Mosque No. 7, is a Sunni Muslim mosque in Harlem, New York City. It was formerly a Nation of Islam mosque at which Malcolm X preached, until he left it for Sunni Islam in 1964. History Opened as Tem ...

, a Sunni

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, formerly known as NOI Mosque No.7 In the days proceeding the release of ''

Who Killed Malcolm X? ''Who Killed Malcolm X?'' is a 2020 documentary miniseries directed by Rachel Dretzin and Phil Bertelsen. Produced by Fusion, the series began streaming on Netflix on February 7, 2020. The documentary follows the work of Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a ...

'', a six-part

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

documentary that aired February 7, 2020, New York County District Attorney,

Cyrus Vance Jr. Cyrus Roberts Vance Jr. (born June 14, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the New York County District Attorney, District Attorney of Manhattan, New York County, New York (state), New York, also known as the Manhattan Dis ...

, 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 Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that is committed to exonerating individuals who have been wrongly convicted, through the use of DNA testing and working to reform the criminal justice system to prevent futur ...

with plans to re-investigate the case. 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. 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 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and NYPD withheld key evidence from the March 1966 murder trial that most likely would have led to their acquittal. A third co-defendant, Mujahid Abdul Halim, had his

2nd degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

conviction upheld and remains on parole. On July 14, 2022, after unsuccessful negotiations with the City of New York, Aziz filed suit in the

U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

in Brooklyn, seeking $40 million in damages related to his wrongful imprisonment. 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."

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Biography

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Further reading