**Malcolm X** was an American Sunni minister and human rights activist
who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement. He is best
known for his controversial advocacy for the rights of blacks; some
consider him a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for
its crimes against black Americans, while others accused him of
preaching racism and violence. He has been called one of the greatest
and most influential African Americans in history.

## Assassination

Much like other civil rights leaders (notably [Martin Luther King
Jr.](Martin_Luther_King_Jr. "wikilink") and [Fred
Hampton](Fred_Hampton "wikilink")) Malcolm X was shot dead, his
assassination has spawned two notable [conspiracy
theories](Conspiracy_Theory "wikilink").

### Events

On February 21, 1965, he was preparing to address the OAAU in
Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom when someone in the 400-person audience
yelled, "Nigger\! Get your hand outta my pocket\!" As Malcolm X and his
bodyguards tried to quell the disturbance, a man rushed forward and shot
him once in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun and two other men charged
the stage firing semi-automatic handguns. Malcolm X was pronounced dead
at 3:30 pm, shortly after arriving at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
The autopsy identified 21 gunshot wounds to the chest, left shoulder,
arms and legs, including ten buckshot wounds from the initial shotgun
blast.

### Theory \#1: Nation of Islam

All evidence points to a level of involvement by the [Nation of
Islam](Nation_of_Islam "wikilink"), an black [Islamic](Islam "wikilink")
group in the [USA](United_States_of_America "wikilink") that Malcolm X
was once a member of, but he had a notable falling out with the Nation
after denouncing black nationalism and the rape culture within the
organisation. The evidence

  - The three gunmen who shot him were notable for

### Theory \#2: FBI

Some have speculated that Malcolm X was killed by the
[FBI](Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation "wikilink") and New York City
[police](police "wikilink") as part of
[COINTELPRO](COINTELPRO "wikilink"), the evidence for this includes:

  - The FBI had been spying on Malcolm extensively, and police had
    infiltrated the Nation of Islam