IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 863 
Reaffirming the importance of ensuring justice is provided to Malcolm X 
and the need to reopen the investigation into the assassination of this 
profound and fearless civil rights leader. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2020 
Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. OMAR, Mr. CARSON 
of Indiana, and Ms. TLAIB) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Reaffirming the importance of ensuring justice is provided 
to Malcolm X and the need to reopen the investigation 
into the assassination of this profound and fearless civil 
rights leader. 
Whereas Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925 and 
was a leading steward and voice of inspiration for the 
civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s; 
Whereas Malcolm grew up in poor urban neighborhoods, 
spent the remainder of his childhood in a series of foster 
homes after the death of his father and institutionaliza-
tion of his mother, and despite being an extremely intel-
ligent and ardent student at the top of his class, dropped 
out of school after being told by his teacher that he could 
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never fulfill his dream of becoming a lawyer because he 
was Black; 
Whereas after dropping out of school, Malcolm eventually 
turned to drugs and crime and spent years in prison, but 
fortunately used that time as a period of self-enlighten-
ment and reform; 
Whereas by the time Malcolm was released from prison, he 
was a changed man and a devout follower of Islam, who 
changed his surname to ‘‘X’’ in order to signify his fam-
ily’s unknown African tribal name that had been lost 
when they were given their slave master’s name ‘‘Little’’, 
before he eventually adopted the Muslim name El-Hajj 
Malik El-Shabazz; 
Whereas Malcolm X dedicated his newfound freedom to advo-
cating for African Americans and to sharing his faith, 
quickly becoming a national spokesman for the Nation of 
Islam, and was later appointed as a minister; 
Whereas Malcolm X was a skillful orator whose beliefs as a 
Black Muslim made him a controversial figure who was 
more radical than the mainstream civil rights movement, 
but his ability to continue learning and evolving led to 
changing his views on Black nationalism and becoming a 
proponent of international Black consciousness and inte-
gration; 
Whereas despite constantly receiving death threats, being a 
target for assassination, and barely escaping his home 
that was firebombed while his wife and children were in-
side, Malcolm X continued to fearlessly dismiss the ongo-
ing dangers to his family and himself; 
Whereas, on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated 
while delivering a speech at the Audubon Ballroom, which 
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was located in the Washington Heights neighborhood in 
Manhattan; 
Whereas Talmadge Hayer, also known as Thomas Hagan, is 
one of three individuals charged with the assassination of 
Malcolm X, along with Norman ‘‘3X’’ Butler and Thom-
as ‘‘15X’’ Johnson; 
Whereas even at the time of their initial arrest, there was 
widespread belief that Mr. Johnson and Mr. Butler were 
not involved with Malcolm X’s assassination and had 
been erroneously convicted at trial; 
Whereas such sentiments deepened following Mr. Hayer’s 
sworn testimony, which was conspicuously disregarded, 
during trial in which he stated that he and four other as-
sailants carried out the assassination of which Butler and 
Johnson were not involved, an assertion that Hayer sub-
sequently reaffirmed in two affidavits; 
Whereas because Hayer’s testimony went unheeded, criminal 
justice activists such as the Innocence Project have deter-
mined that the initial trial proceedings presumably led to 
the unjust detention of two young men for two decades; 
and 
Whereas the recently released Netflix docuseries titled ‘‘Who 
Killed Malcolm X?’’ serves as a serendipitous reminder of 
the injustices surrounding this case by demonstrating the 
gaps in prosecutorial and investigative processes and the 
attestations against the four coconspirators named in 
Hayer’s affidavit, further compelling the need for the De-
partment of Justice to assist the New York County Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office, which has publicly committed to 
revisiting the case: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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(1) recognizes that Malcolm X will forever be 
remembered for preaching an unvarnished assess-
ment of the injustices and punitive treatment that 
African Americans have endured at the hand of sys-
temic racism for centuries and effortlessly fusing to-
gether elements of both moral clarity and oratorical 
articulation in his advocacy for racial equality, mobi-
lizing tens of thousands of activists and inspiring a 
broader cultural revolution; 
(2) recognizes that Malcolm X was a leading 
figure in a movement that fundamentally changed 
our country, who historians and scholars consider to 
be one of the most influential leaders of the civil 
rights movement and who was a true voice of the 
community’s pent-up frustrations and anger, inspir-
ing and motivating the African-American community 
to be courageous and challenge White authority, no 
longer allowing themselves to be defined in inferior 
or derogatory terms; 
(3) expresses that it is in the best interest of 
Malcolm X’s family, Mr. Butler, the Johnson family, 
historians, the broader African-American commu-
nity, and the entire country to reinvestigate the as-
sassination of Malcolm X; and 
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(4) urges that the Department of Justice and 
local law enforcement dedicate the resources this 
matter demands in the pursuit of clarity, justice, 
and resolution. 
Æ 
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