OPINION
The release of Thomas Hagan, Malcolm X's assassin
http://theweek.com/article/index/202380/The_release_of_Thomas_Hagan_Malcolm_Xs_assassin
Thomas Hagan, who shot black activist Malcolm X in 1965, has been
released from prison after 45 years behind bars. A quick guide to the
assassin's release.
April 29, 2010
Thomas Hagan the only man to admit shooting civil rights leader
Malcolm X in 1965 has been released on parole after serving 45
years of a 20-year to life sentence. Who is he, and why did New York
officials set him free? (Watch a report about Thomas Hagan's release)
http://video.theweek.com/video/Malcolm-X-assassin-paroled#c=257GRK0XDBGL1ZPL&t=Malcolm%20X%20assassin%20paroled
Who is Thomas Hagan?
Hagan, 69, is a former member of the Nation of Islam, who was known
as Talmadge X Hayer at the time the murder occurred. He has confessed
that he was one of the three men who killed Malcolm X, who was 39, as
he began a speech in a Harlem ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965. Hagan served
23 years in prison, then 22 more in a work-release program. By the
time of his release, he was spending five nights a week at home and
just two in jail. In 1989 he fathered a child. He now volunteers at a
Harlem mosque, and in 2008 he told the New York Post he works in a
fast-food restaurant.
Why did he shoot Malcolm X?
In a 2008 court filing, Hagan said he "acted out of rage" over
Malcolm X's split from the Nation of Islam, and his criticism of the
organization's leader, Elijah Muhammad. Hagan says he was young and
naive, and acted on impulse and loyalty to Elijah Muhammad. Some have
speculated that people high in the organization sent the assassins, a
charge the group and Hagan have always denied. Malcolm X had been
organization's high-profile chief spokesman, and Hagan said the
assassins targeted him because the split exposed him as a "hypocrite."
Was he the only assassin?
No three men were convicted in the shooting, but Hagan was the only
one to admit his role. Two others, Norman 3x Butler and Thomas 15x
Johnson, always maintained their innocence, and were released on
parole in 1980. Hagan has said Butler and Johnson were not involved
in the killing.
Is everyone satisfied that Hagan has served his time?
No. James Small, executive director of the Organisation of
Afro-American Unity, told the BBC that the state of New York had
"murdered Malcolm again" by releasing Hagan. Small argued Malcom X's
killer should have been executed or kept in jail until death. But
Hagan has met a curfew and held a job, as the parole board demanded,
and repeatedly expressed remorse for the shooting. "I have deep
regrets about my participation," he told the state's parole board
last month. "I've had a lot of time, a heck of a lot of time, to
think about it."
.
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