Feb. 22, 1965 - Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Black Muslim movement, said today his followers were not responsible for the murder of Malcolm X.
Muhammad called his former comrade a “hypocrite” and said Malcolm had been “the victim of his own violent preachings.” But he denied speculation by police that Malcolm’s assassination was the result of his feud with the Muslims. Muhammad said he believed that none of the men involved in the slaying is a Muslim.
He called Talmadge Hayer, also known as Thomas Hagan, the first suspect arrested in the murder, “a stranger to us.”
“I don’t know why he was shot,” Muhammad said at a rare news conference in his 19-room Chicago mansion. “I don’t have any knowledge of anyone trying to kill Malcolm,” he said. “We have never resorted to no such thing as violence.”
He said, however, that the Muslims were making their own investigation of the killing to determine whether any member of his group had been involved.
Malcolm, a former follower of Muhammad, split with the Black Muslims last March and formed his own militant Black Nationalist organization. Following his murder yesterday at a Harlem rally, police said the killing apparently stemmed from the antagonism between the two groups. They have revealed no evidence to support the view, however.
Muhammad said he did not expect violence to erupt between Malcolm’s followers and his own. “All my followers know they are not going to fight anyone,” Muhammad said. “We are permitted to fight if we are attacked. That’s in the scripture, the Koran and the Bible, too. But we will never be the aggressor.”
Asked about reports that Malcolm’s associates were on their way to Chicago to get revenge by killing Muhammad, the 67-year-old “messenger of Allah” said: “I don’t feel in any way disturbed about that in the least. It is an unjust thing even to think about.”
Nevertheless, a heavy police guard was placed outside Muhammad’s home by Chicago police.
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