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Was Jimmy Breslin Tipped Off About Malcolm X’s Assassination 50 Years Ago?

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by Milton Allimadi and Colin Benjamin
Special to the NNPA from the New York Amsterdam News

Was the NYPD involved or did they merely know about the impending murder of Malcolm X and allow it to happen 50 years ago? Were some reporters, including famed scribe Jimmy Breslin, tipped off that something was about to go down?

The official story has been that Malcolm X was killed Feb. 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem because of a feud between him and his former allies in the Nation of Islam. Malcolm had a falling out with NOI leader and his former spiritual guide Elijah Muhammad, who he’d accused of fathering several children with teenage secretaries. The popular narrative was that Malcolm was killed by Muhammad loyalists after he was expelled from the NOI.

But many people, especially in the Black community, never believed that version of events as being the complete story. While there had been a clear rift between Malcolm and Muhammad, it was also a period when the FBI was conducting its Counter Intelligence Program, initially targeting suspected communists but later expanding it to disrupt groups such as the Black Panthers and other Black nationalist organizations.

Indeed, records revealed after Malcolm’s death show that the FBI had been actively monitoring him, as Malcolm’s files, available on the FBI’s website, confirm. Therefore, it isn’t beyond reason that the FBI, under the maniacal J. Edgar Hoover, could have played a role in the assassination by either fomenting, participating or at least turning a blind eye and allowing it to happen.

Could it be that the NYPD also came to know from the FBI, or from its own investigations, that Malcolm would be killed by opponents on that fateful February date? Could it be that the NYPD and the FBI worked together to allow Malcolm to be killed by not warning him or by not standing in the way? Could it be that both agencies even actively aided Malcolm’s killers? These intriguing questions came into sharp focus last week when Benjamin and I read the introduction of an upcoming book by Toby Rogers, “The Ganja Godfather: The Untold Story of NYC’s Weed Kingpin,” which chronicles the history of the mob in New York City.

In the book’s introduction, Rogers writes that when he interviewed Breslin 10 years ago on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X, Breslin told him, “Well, I was supposed to receive a journalism award in Syracuse that evening, but I got a tip [from the NYPD] that I should go up to Harlem to see Malcolm X speak. I sat way in the back smoking a Pall Mall cigarette.”

Last Friday, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Malcolm X’s murder, co-writer Benjamin and I interviewed Rogers separately about the assertion in his forthcoming book.

According to Rogers, after Malcolm was killed, Breslin, who at the time was a reporter for The New York Herald Tribune, wrote an article that initially reported the arrest of two suspects by police in the shooting. However, by the time the Herald Tribune’s second edition appeared, no reference was made of a second suspect. Three suspects were eventually tried and convicted of the killing of Malcolm X: Talmadge Hayer, Thomas Johnson and Norman Butler. However, Hayer was the only gunman officially arrested at the scene. Was there a second gunman? Perhaps a police informant who was later released?

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

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Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12).

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

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It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.
It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

 

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.

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