*An upcoming Netflix series has prompted the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to review the murder of Malcolm X.
The civil rights icon was gunned down on February 21, 1965, while addressing a group at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. His assassination will be explored in wake of the new findings uncovered in the Netflix docuseries, CNN reports.
The six-part series “Who Killed Malcolm X?” originally premiered on Fusion last year, but was added to Netflix last Friday. In it, historian and investigative journalist Abdur-Rahman Muhammad attempts to answer the title’s question.
via Complex:
Abdur-Rahman Muhammad calls into question whether Muhammad Aziz, 81, was actually involved in the death of the civil rights activist. Aziz, along with Mujahid Abdul Halim and Khalil Islam, were convicted of murder in 1966, and sentenced to life in prison.Â
Halim confessed to his part in the assassination of Malcolm X at their trial while also maintaining that Aziz and Islam had “nothing to do with it,” claiming that he knew the four other people involved, but refused to give up their identities.Â
Islam was released in 1987, and died in 2009. Halim was paroled in 2010. Aziz was released on parole in 1985, and became the head of the Nation of Islam’s mosque in Harlem in 1998. He has since fought to clear his name.Â
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The Innocence Project is working with the Manhattan DA’s office to determine if Aziz is innocent.
“District Attorney Vance has met with representatives from the Innocence Project and associated counsel regarding this matter,” Manhattan DA spokesman Danny Frost said in a statement. “He has determined that the district attorney’s office will begin a preliminary review of the matter, which will inform the office regarding what further investigative steps may be undertaken.”
Aziz claims he was home nursing an injury when he first heard about Malcolm X’s death. “The day of the murder, which was a Sunday morning, I was laying over the couch with my foot up and I heard it over the radio,” he said.
Barry Scheck, Innocence Project co-founder and special counsel said that he is “grateful” the DA’s office has agreed to review Aziz’s conviction, CBS News reports.
“Given the historical importance of this case and the fact that our client is 81 years old, we are especially encouraged that Mr. Vance has assigned two highly respected prosecutors, Peter Casolaro and Charles King, to work on this re-investigation,” Scheck said in a statement.
“Mr. Casolaro did extraordinary work on the case of the Exonerated Five and Mr. King is an experienced member of the Conviction Integrity Program. We look forward to working cooperatively with them to see that justice is done.”
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