DAILY NEWS: His life threatened by a “dissident group of Black Muslims,” Malcolm X found himself guarded by a phalanx of city police on his arrival for a late-night radio broadcast with WDAS DJ Joe Rainey on Dec. 29, 1964. It had been a year since Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam, and numerous threats had been made against him, including that night at the station, said Wynne Alexander, the daughter of WDAS’ then-general manager Bob Klein. About 75 cops, armed with shotguns and police dogs, combed through the woods around the station, then housed near Fairmount Park, on Edgley Road near Belmont Avenue. As Malcolm X made his way inside, only station employees and the press were allowed in with him. Two months later, 47 years ago today, on Feb. 21, 1965, Malcolm X would be killed at the Audubon Ballroom, in New York. MORE
RELATED: “It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be for the cause of brotherhood. That’s the only thing that can save this country.”These prophetic words were spoken by one of America ’s most famous and controversial African-Americans just two days before his assassination. His name was Malcolm. One could go deeply into the making of this man, born Malcolm Little. So many people, agencies, institutions and organizations have covered this portion of Malcolm X’s brief life on earth. A vast sea of in-depth analyses and biographies on his life and philosophies are available. This story focuses on all of the facts, suspicions and theories surrounding the assassination of Malcolm X and the impact it has had on the world. Like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, too, had a dream. It began bathed in the tenets of anger and hatred, fostering economic independence on the shoulders of retaliatory separatism. And it ended with the swelling acceptance of a unified brotherhood and the replacement of hatred with peace and of anger with the nagging thirst for international equality for all mankind. MORE
RELATED: Malcolm stepped up to a wooden podium and looked out at the audience. When the applause finally settled down, he offered the audience the 
Muslim greeting and smiled when they responded in-kind. Just as he began to speak again, a commotion broke out near the rear of the ballroom. Two men jumped up, knocking wooden folding-chairs to the floor, as one of the men yelled, “Get your hand out of my pocket!” As Malcolm responded with, “Cool it there, brothers,” a loud explosion suddenly erupted in the back of the room, which began to fill with smoke. Malcolm’s bodyguards and aides hardly had time to react as the well coordinated ruses effectively diverted their attention from him, allowing unopposed gunmen to begin their attack. A man rose from the front row and pulled out a double-barreled, sawed-off shotgun from under his coat and fired twice at Malcolm. Both shots tore through the podium, striking Malcolm in the middle of his chest. Simultaneously, as Malcolm was falling backwards and clutching his bloody chest, two more men jumped up and fired pistols at him as they rushed the stage. Although Malcolm was down, the two men repeatedly fired bullets into his body before turning and running to flee the premises. More shots were fired as they ran. Several of Malcolm’s followers rushed to his aid. By the time they reached him the entire ballroom was in total chaos. Most of the panicked crowd attempted to flee the smoke-filled room and frightening onslaught, while others rushed to violently attack the fleeing perpetrators. MORE
SMOKING GUN: On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was shot to death as he delivered a speech in Manhattan’s Audobon Ballroom. The following March, three men — Talmadge Hayer, Norman Butler, and Thomas Johnson — were convicted of murdering the 39-year-old black leader. Though prosecutors suggested at trial that the slaying was plotted as “an object lesson for Malcolm’s followers,” no direct evidence linked the Nation of Islam — from which Malcolm had publicly broken — to the killing, though that speculation still thrives. As another anniversary of the murder passes, we have compiled an extensive collection of documents chronicling the death of Malcolm X. Included in this package are New York Police Department, FBI, prison, hospital, grand jury, and medical examiner records that have never previously been disclosed. From ballistics evidence and eyewitness accounts to a chilling autopsy photo and the bullet-riddled documents found in Malcolm’s breast pocket, these documents offer a remarkable picture of a brutal crime. We have arranged the records in several sections and suggest that you take the time to examine them all. MORE
