Did The FBI Cointelpro Kill Malcolm X?

Whilst the murder of Malcolm X has been blamed on the Nation Of Islam, the Neflix Documentary Who Killed Malcolm X, accuses the FBI of killing Malcolm X as part of its COINTELPRO Program.

The FBI Cointelpro & The Assassination Of Malcolm X

The FBI’s Counterintelligence Program which may be responsible for the death of Malcolm X began in 1956 in order to undermine Communist Activity in the United States during the Cold War.

In the 1960s, the activities of the FBI were extended to include surveillance on organisations like the Kuklax Klan and Black Panther Party.

In Who Killed Malcolm X, its suggested that Malcolm X’s disagreement with Nation Of Islam leader Elijah Muhammed would allow the FBI and Nation of Islam to work together in the killing of Malcolm X by the hand of William Bradley, aka Al Mustafa Shabazz, who allegedly delivered the fatal shot that killed Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.

The Life & Times Of Malcolm X

Prior to his death, Malcolm X was a revolutionary who attacked the oppressive exploitative core of American Capitalism as well as the philosophy of White supremacy.

After Malcolm’s Father Earl Little was murdered by Members of the Ku Klax Klan, Malcolm X’s mother suffered a psychiatric breakdown because she could not take care of his six siblings and he was sent to live in foster homes.

Whilst at School Malcolm X told the Teacher he wanted to become a Lawyer, but was encouraged to try out being a Carpenter instead.

This experience disillusioned Malcolm X, and after school he became a criminal until he was later arrested for Burglary and sentenced to ten Years in Prison.

While in prison, Malcolm X was recruited by the Nation of Islam.

Soon after, Malcolm Little became Malcolm X, saying he did not know his true ancestral name because it had been taken from him during Slavery.

As a prominent member of the Nation Of Islam, Malcolm X rallied support behind the Nation Of Islam and swelled its ranks by attacking the racist US government and urging the youth in the Civil Rights Movement to abandon Pacifism by actively resisting and protecting themselves from attacks by the Police during Civil Rights Protests.

Nevertheless, divisions started to come between the leader of the Nation Of Islam Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X after Malcolm X became aware of Muhammed’s sexual relationships and children born outside wedlock with some young women in the Nation Of Islam.

Meanwhile increased FBI infiltration of the Nation Of Islam accelerated the rift between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammed.

The conflict between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammed came to a head when Malcolm X described the assassination of John F. Kennedy as “Chickens Coming Home to Roost”.

In doing so, Malcolm X had disobeyed an order from Elijah Muhammad for the Nation Of Islam to stay quiet on the JFK assassination.

Following the Kennedy response, Malcolm X was expelled from the Nation Of Islam, and Malcolm X embarked on his own personal journey of self exploration which turned him into a Pan African Internationalist whose emphasis became the destruction of Capitalism.

With a decreased focus on Race Politics coupled with an Internationalist point of view, Malcolm X at this point represented a risk to the broader Capitalist system.

As such, it may ultimately have been this transformation in Malcolm X which led Malcolm X on the path to broader inclusive Class Struggle Politics after he had left the Nation Of Islam that would lead to the FBI killing Malcolm X as part of a covert FBI COINTELPRO operation because Malcolm X’s Political agenda would now be broader than before.

Malcolm X was now preparing to focus on confronting oppression on the basis of Universal class struggle as opposed to only focusing on the struggles and rights of Black people in the United States Of America and this may have led to his death in a covert FBI Cointelpro operation.