Malcolm X (51 page)

[BUREAU DELETION] advised on February 21, 1965, that at approximately 3:10
P.M
., this date, he received a call at the station that a homicide was committed at the Audubon Ballroom, 564 West 166th Street, New York City.

He stated that Patrolman [BUREAU DELETION] New York City Police Department, advised the same date that Malcolm X, Negro, male, age 39, of Suite 128, Hotel Theresa, 7th Avenue and 125th Street, New York City, while on the stage of the Audubon Ballroom, was shot and killed by unknown persons. Patrolman [BUREAU DELETION] stated that Malcolm X was pronounced dead on arrival by [BUREAU DELETION] at Vanderbilt Clinic, Presbyterian Hospital at 168th Street and Broadway, New York City, on February 21, 1965. [BUREAU DELETION] stated that the Police Department determined that the shooting of Malcolm X occurred at about 3:10
P.M
., February 21, 1965.

On February 21, 1965, [BUREAU DELETION] and [BUREAU DELETION] both of the [BUREAU DELETION] advised that Malcolm X was shot that afternoon during a rally of the OAAU at the Audubon Ballroom. They stated that [BUREAU DELETION] was on patrol on Broadway when he heard shots coming from the Audubon Ballroom. He immediately proceeded
in that direction where he saw people coming out of the said ballroom shouting that Malcolm X had been shot. Others were shouting “Don't let him get away.” [BUREAU DELETION] at that time arrested person identified as Thomas Hagan as he was running out of the ballroom. When arrested, Hagan (true name Hayer) had in his pocket a .45 caliber automatic clip containing four rounds. Hayer had been shot in the left leg.

[BUREAU DELETION] further stated on February 21, 1965, that the Police Department obtained two witnesses immediately after the shooting, namely [BUREAU DELETION] both freelance reporters and photographers of [BUREAU DELETION].

[BUREAU DELETION] stated that [BUREAU DELETION] and [BUREAU DELETION] gave statements in which they say they saw Hayer with a gun in his hand while Malcolm X was on the stage speaking. They said Malcolm X suddenly called out “Hold it” and after this, [BUREAU DELETION] dropped to the floor and did not actually see Malcolm X shot, but stated before they dropped to the floor, they saw Hayer with a gun in his hand pointing it towards Malcolm X. The next thing they saw was Hayer trying to run out of the ballroom with a gun in his hand. According to [BUREAU DELETION] as Hayer ran out, one of Malcolm's group shot three times at Hayer with an automatic pistol. Hayer did not have the pistol on him when he was arrested outside the ballroom.

[BUREAU DELETION] also stated that [BUREAU DELETION] who was sitting in the front row in the Audubon Ballroom was shot in the foot during the shooting spree in which Malcolm X was shot. He also stated that [BUREAU DELETION] was also hit during the shooting spree in the ballroom and both [BUREAU DELETION] and [BUREAU DELETION] were treated at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, New York City.

[BUREAU DELETION] later advised that the police found a 12 gauge sawed-off double-barrel shotgun manufactured by J. C. Higgins, model 1017, also bearing the number 5100. The police advised, upon examination, that the shotgun had been fired and left at the scene.

At approximately 7:45
P.M
., on February 21, 1965, [BUREAU
DELETION] advised that Haver was being detained in the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital, under guard. He stated that Hayer had one bullet in him which entered his left thigh and shattered the thigh bone. He stated the hospital plans to put Hayer's left leg in traction and that the bullet would stay in the leg for about two weeks until such time as the bone would be healed enough to permit an operation.

On February 21, 1965, [BUREAU DELETION] New York, contacted the office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at New York City and stated that he had one of the pistols used to kill Malcolm X. [BUREAU DELETION] was at that time in [BUREAU DELETION] and asked that Bureau Agents meet him at the [BUREAU DELETION] address as soon as possible. [BUREAU DELETION] when contacted the same date by Agents of the FBI, [BUREAU DELETION] was in the back of the Audubon Ballroom, the same date, to hear Malcolm X speak. He stated that he is a member of the OAAU. He said Malcolm X was just introduced and began to speak when some people began to scream somewhere about eight rows from the front of the auditorium. He said people in that area began to move away and Malcolm X put up his hands as though to quiet the people down and was heard to say “Keep your seats.” Just then, [BUREAU DELETION] shots rang out, but [BUREAU DELETION] could not see who was doing the shooting. After the shots were fired [BUREAU DELETION] the persons shooting headed for the exit. Some of the people in the audience tried to stop them by throwing chairs at them or in their way. At this time, two of Malcolm X's men were shooting at the assailants as they were trying to leave the ballroom. [BUREAU DELETION] said the two men involved in the shooting passed him, but as the other two men involved were running towards the exit, one turned to fire back at Malcolm X's men. As this man then turned to run through the exit, [BUREAU DELETION] threw a “body block” into him knocking him down the stairs, at which time, this person dropped a .45 caliber pistol. [BUREAU DELETION] picked up the gun and attempted to shoot the man he knocked down as he was running down the stairs, but the gun jammed and he ran out of the building. [BUREAU DELETION] said he checked the
gun and noticed that three rounds were still in the clip. [BUREAU DELETION] then turned over to Special Agents of the FBI a .45 caliber automatic pistol, serial number 335055, containing a clip with three rounds of ammunition.

At 10:15
P.M
., February 21, 1965, [BUREAU DELETION] came to the office of the FBI, at which time, they were furnished a .45 caliber automatic pistol, which was obtained by Agents of the FBI from [BUREAU DELETION].

[BUREAU DELETION] stated that Hayer, who was arrested immediately after shooting Malcolm X, has been charged with homicide and that Reuben X Francis, a member of Malcolm X's group, was charged with felonious assault and possession of a deadly weapon.

[BUREAU DELETION] also stated that the Police Department has a witness who identified Francis as the person firing back at assailants of Malcolm X. He said Francis was believed to have fired a shot which struck Hayer in the leg. He said Francis is suspected of being the person who fired a .32 caliber pistol, which has never been recovered by the Police Department. [BUREAU DELETION] stated that it is estimated that up to four persons may be involved in the killing of Malcolm X.

[BUREAU DELETION] further advised that an autopsy performed on Malcolm X reflected that he had ten bullet wounds in his chest, thigh and ankle plus four bullet creases in the chest and thigh. The autopsy located one nine millimeter slug and one .45 caliber slug, and several shotgun pellets in the body of Malcolm X.

[BUREAU DELETION] said that when the Police Department examined the Audubon Ballroom after the shooting they found a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun wrapped in a green suit coat. In the suit coat pocket was found a key for a Yale lock, a package of camel cigarettes and an empty eyeglass case bearing the optometrist name “M. M. Fine, Main Street, Flushing.” The shotgun contained two discharged Remington express shells, single 0 buckshot shells, and there were indications that the gun was recently fired.

[BUREAU DELETION] also stated that in the ballroom were found three .45 caliber shells and slugs, six nine millimeter shells
and two slugs, and three .32 caliber slugs and 10 pieces of lead, presumably fired from the shotgun.

The FBI Identification Division, on February 22, 1965, identified prints of the person arrested in the shooting of Malcolm X as Talmadge Hayer, who up until then, was known to the Police Department only as Thomas Hagen. Identification records reflect that Hayer, FBI #142496F, is a male, Negro, born March 16, 1942, at Hackensack, New Jersey, last known residing at 347 Marshall Street, Paterson, New Jersey. [BUREAU DELETION]

[BUREAU DELETION] that Malcolm X arrived at the Audubon Ballroom, February 21, 1965, in a white 1965 Cadillac. Malcolm X was surrounded by his bodyguards and was then escorted into the front corridor of the Audubon Ballroom and then to the stage. When Malcolm X began to speak, a disturbance occurred between two men. Up in the front near the stage, Malcolm X's bodyguards started to move towards the two men causing a disturbance, when Malcolm X said “Hold it.” Without hesitation, two men occupying the front seats, left side, middle aisle, looking towards the stage, got into a crouched position and fired several shots in the direction of Malcolm X. The fire “spitting” from the guns “crashed” into the chest of Malcolm X and he fell backwards as if knocked down by a sudden powerful force. Still in the crouched position, the gunmen hastily moved toward the exit in the back of the hall, stepping over persons who were laying on the floor. It is believed that approximately twenty shots in all were fired during the shooting.

[BUREAU DELETION] reviewed a photograph of Talmadge Hayer and identified him as one of the persons who shot and killed Malcolm X on February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom.

[BUREAU DELETION] advised on that date Hayer's fingerprints were found on the clip of the .45 caliber pistol that was picked up by [BUREAU DELETION]at the Audubon Ballroom the day Malcolm X was killed and turned over to the FBI.

On February 26, 1965 [BUREAU DELETION] Norman 3X Butler, 661 Rosedale Avenue, Bronx, New York, was arrested at 3:00
A.M
., same date, by the New York City Police Department, as one of the assassins in the killing of Malcolm X on February
21, 1965. [BUREAU DELETION] said that three witnesses including [BUREAU DELETION] placed Butler in the Audubon Ballroom at the time that Malcolm X was shot and he was identified as one of the persons who actually shot at Malcolm X.

[BUREAU DELETION] a photograph of Norman 3X Butler, who was arrested by the Police Department for the killing of Malcolm X as one of the persons who participated in the shooting of Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom.

On February 27, 1965, [BUREAU DELETION] advised that [BUREAU DELETION] identified Talmadge Hayer and Norman 3X Butler, both now in the custody of the New York City Police Department, as assassins in the killing of Malcolm X. Butler was arrested in January 1965, for shooting a Correctional Officer who broke away from the NOI and, at the time he was arrested for killing Malcolm X, he was on $10,000 bail.

[BUREAU DELETION]

[BUREAU DELETION]

[BUREAU DELETION]

[BUREAU DELETION] identified Norman 3X Butler from photographs as the man who was sitting [BUREAU DELETION] and said “Get your hands out of my pocket” in the Audubon Ballroom, just before Malcolm X was killed. [BUREAU DELETION] cannot recognize Thomas 15X Johnson from photographs as being in the Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965.

On March 4, 1965, [BUREAU DELETION] stated that as of this date, Hayer, Butler and Johnson, all arrested for the killing of Malcolm X, have refused to furnish any information other than their name and age.

On March 8, 1965, [BUREAU DELETION] advised that [BUREAU DELETION] was interviewed by the New York City Police Department on the same date. According to [BUREAU DELETION] stated that he saw Hayer shoot Malcolm X and also observed Butler and Johnson in the Audubon Ballroom the day Malcolm X was killed. [BUREAU DELETION] saw Johnson run out the side exit after the shooting.

[BUREAU DELETION] stated that Johnson, when arrested, denied being in the Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965.
[BUREAU DELETION] stated that [BUREAU DELETION] after the shooting, he picked up the shotgun used to kill Malcolm X and gave it to Rueben X Francis. He said he also picked up a German Luger pistol and gave it to another person to hold until the police arrived.

[BUREAU DELETION] stated that the German Luger was never turned over to the Police Department and this gun could probably account for the nine millimeter slug in Malcolm's body. [BUREAU DELETION]

On March 10, 1965, [BUREAU DELETION] advised that the [BUREAU DELETION] in conducting interviews of persons, particularly MMI members who were present in the Audubon Ballroom when Malcolm X was shot, seem to have the same “clear cut” story that they were in the ballroom when Malcolm X was shot and when the shots rang out they fell to the floor and never got a look at the assassins. [BUREAU DELETION] stated that the Police Department learned that [BUREAU DELETION] of the MMI in New York City, has instructed members of the MMI and the OAAU to cooperate with the Police Department but only say that they fell on the floor when the shooting started and cannot identify the person who shot Malcolm X.

[BUREAU DELETION] said the [BUREAU DELETION] is now shifting their investigation towards officials of the MMI [BUREAU DELETION]. In reference to [BUREAU DELETION] stated that information has been received that [BUREAU DELETION] also was one of Malcolm X's bodyguards the day he was shot, and has been seen in the Harlem area “dressed to kill,” “wearing one hundred dollar suits” and a “pocket full of hundred dollar bills” since the death of Malcolm X. [BUREAU DELETION] said that [BUREAU DELETION] has no visible means of support at this time.

[BUREAU DELETION] also stated that on March 10, 1965, the New York County Grand Jury handed down first-degree murder indictments in the killing of Malcolm X on February 21, 1965, against Talmadge Hayer, Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson.

The
New York Times
, a local daily newspaper dated March 11,
1965, contained an article captioned “4 Are Indicted Here In Malcolm X Case.” This article states: