Justice Delayed

The daughter of Malcom X, Ilyasha Shabazz, was just 2 years old when her father was gun downed in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.  She was at the podium on Tuesday announcing her family's lawsuit against the CIA, NYPD, and FBI for wrongful death.  The suit alleges that these agencies knew of the plot to kill Malcom X, but concealed evidence of the plot and did nothing to stop it.  It demands $100 million in damages. Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the family, told a press conference that law enforcement "conspired to assassinate" the black activist whom he called "one of the thought leaders of the 20th century".  Crump said that the cover-up by these agencies continued for decades, which prevented the family from seeking redress for his murder.

Talmage Hayer, then a member of the Nation of Islam, confessed in court that he was one of the assassins in 1965. A witness to the assassination has testified he heard a police officer who was restraining Hayer ask, "Is he one of us?". Rumors of one what actually occurred at the ballroom have circulated since the murder. Allegations were made that the Nation of Islam leader, Elijah Muhammad,  approved of Malcom X's elimination for splintering the organization.  At the time he was shot down, Malcom X was the leader of the break-away Organization of Afro-American Unity. Two men spent 20 years in jail after being wrongfully convicted of his murder. The City of New York agreed to pay $26 million to settle lawsuits filed on behalf of the wrongfully incarcerated.  A two-year investigation led by the Manhattan district attorney’s office found that prosecutors, the FBI, and the police had withheld key evidence that probably would have led to acquittals if presented to a jury. The wrongful death suit is intended to answer some of the questions surrounding Malcom's murder and bring reparations to his family. 

graffiti at the prison

In another case of delayed justice, three former detainees at the infamous torture facility, Abu Ghraib in Iraq, were awarded $42 million in damages by a federal jury in Alexandria, VA this week. The verdict against CACI Premier Technology, formerly known as Blackwater, was a military contractor at the prison in early 2003. A previous trial in April, 2024 resulted in a hung jury. Abu Ghraib was run by US military police, but the contractor was hired to provide interrogators. They resorted to various forms of physical and mental torture to extract information. After an investigation by the US military, prompted by leaked photographs of naked prisoners in distress, eleven military officers were court-martialed for their involvement. During the trial CACI attempted to lay blame for torture on military police. The prison, officially known as the Central Baghdad Correctional Facility, was closed down in 2014.  Guantanamo Bay, another detention facility is still holds 30 prisoners on the Island of Cuba.