🚨Malcolm X Assassinated

Feb. 21, 1965 - Malcolm X, the militant Black Nationalist leader, was shot to death today as he began a speech to a rally of his followers at the Audubon Ballroom in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights. Police, who linked the crime with the Black Muslim movement, charged a 22-year-old Negro with the slaying.

Malcolm, 39, who broke with the Black Muslim movement last March, had just begun to speak at an afternoon meeting of his Afro-American Union on the second floor of the Audubon Ballroom when a fusillade of shots rang out, and he fell to the floor of the stage. 

He was taken to the Vanderbilt Clinic of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. Three other persons were wounded in the rioting that broke out in the ballroom immediately after the shooting. One of them, identified as Talmadge Hayer, 22, also known as Thomas Hagan, or Paterson, N.J., was booked on homicide charges, but police said they believed as many as five other persons were involved in the killing.

Just before 3 p.m., witnesses said, Malcolm walked onto the stage and was greeted with an ovation. About three minutes later, after being introduced by another speaker as “a man who would give his life for you,” Malcolm moved toward the lectern. He is reported to have said first, “Salaam aleikum,” a traditional Muslim greeting meaning “may peace be upon you,” and then started his speech, saying, “Brothers and sisters…” before his words were cut off by a number of shots estimated from 10 to 30.

As Malcolm began to speak, witnesses said, a disturbance broke out in the rear of the hall, “possibly to divert attention so that those who were after Malcolm X had a clear shot,” police said. 

“I thought it was some rowdy drunks,” said Sharon 6-X Shabazz, a follower of Malcolm. Another spectator said he thought he heard someone shout from the rear of the room, “Stay out of my pockets.”

Malcolm, behind the waist-high speaker’s stand, was attempting to calm the audience when the first bullets hit him. He reeled backward, arms upraised, as shotgun blasts riddled his chest and abdomen.

Malcolm’s wife, Betty, 37, was nearby. She screamed: “They’re killing him! They’re killing him!”

Malcolm, who was apparently dead before he hit the floor of the stage, was placed on a stretcher by police and, surrounded by his followers, then wheeled to the Vanderbilt Clinic, diagonally across Broadway. At about 3:30 p.m., a hospital spokesman told the crowd: “The man you know as Malcolm X is dead.” Malcolm was born Malcolm Little but repudiated his last name as a mark of slavery.

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