01x05 - Shotgun Man

[bunniefuu]

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
The coroner ruled

the cause of death
to be the shotgun pellets.

It wasn't the wounds
from the shooters after the shotgun

that k*lled Malcolm X.

The cause of death was ruled
to be the sawed-off shotgun.

[reporter] Rally attendees
seized one of the gunmen

as he tried
to escape the Audubon.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
There is archival film

of the scene outside
the Audubon Ballroom

right after the assassination.

[reporter] Intervening policemen
engaged in a brutal tug-of-w*r...

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
You see a scuffle between the police

and the crowd that was trying
to beat down Talmadge Hayer,

the only one of the assassins
to confess.

And there's a man standing
on the edge of that crowd

who looks
a lot like William Bradley.

There he is, right there.

Who, according to Hayer,

fired the shotgun
that k*lled Malcolm.

And he's feigning
like he's part of the brawl.

And in that kind of misdirection,

he steps back,

and then you see him
walk across the frame

very calmly, closing his coat,
and he just walks away.

This is how he got away.

If William Bradley is the man
who pulled out that shotgun,

and took the life of Malcolm X,

and I can prove it,

I want to confront him,
face-to-face.

[theme music playing]

According to Talmadge Hayer,

all five of the assassins
of Malcolm X

came from the mosque
in Newark, New Jersey.

What k*lled Malcolm X
was the sawed-off shotgun,

and Talmadge Hayer says that the g*n

was fired by a man
named William Bradley.

Over the years, I had heard
that William X. Bradley

had changed his name,

but I could never find out
what his Muslim name was.

Salaam-alaikum, sister.
Hamdullah.

I was at a Muslim function,

and there was someone

at this Muslim function
that was from Newark.

And I didn't even really
expect to get the answer,

I just approached this...
"Oh, you're from Newark?

You know, the guy
that k*lled Malcolm..."

And before I could even finish
the question he said, "Oh.

Al-Mustafa Shabazz.
William Bradley."

So on and so forth.
And I was just like...

Wow. You know?
I was blown away. Everything.

He gave me everything.

And I couldn't sleep that night.

Bradley's Muslim name unlocked
a whole lot of information,

including his rap sheet.

The list of crimes under
the name Al-Mustafa Shabazz

included aggravated as*ault,
terroristic threats,

robbery, sexual as*ault...

It just went on and on.

I went back to some
of my Newark contacts

with Bradley's Muslim name.

And it seemed to make
everyone pretty nervous.

- Peace, brother. Peace, brother.
- Hey, how you feeling?

Brother, let me
ask you a question.

What're we going to do
about that Mustafa Shabazz,

William Bradley?

Leave him alone.
Leave him alone.

Leave him alone.

Because he's probably being protected
by the state. Leave him alone.

Leave him alone.

If he did what they think he did,
and he's been out here like that,

they're protecting him.

I don't want you in prison
behind some bullshit...

- Oh, no, no, no. I ain't...
- You understand that?

I'm trying to tell you something.

Does the name Al-Mustafa Shabazz
ring a bell to you?

Yes, yes, I knew...
He used to actually come here

for Jumu'ah as well.
He went other places,

but Al-Mustafa Shabazz,

yeah, he used to come here for Jumu'ah.

He used to go other places,
but he used to...

'Cause he didn't live too far from here,

and he was known as William Bradley.

And on the street,

they say that he had, um...
something to do with Malcolm's k*lling.

It's a touchy conversation,
as you can probably see

how I'm trying to handle it.

But, yes, that is something
that has been floating around

that Al-Mustafa Shabazz,
known as William Bradley,

was the shotgun man
that took Malcolm...

That took Malcolm out.

[interviewer] It's been documented that
there is a triggerman here in Newark

hiding in plain sight.
Have you heard that allegation?

- Yeah, I've heard it.
- Was it Mustafa

Al-Shabazz?
You know who he is?

Shotgun dude. Right.

No, I remember.
I know what it's about, you know?

And, you know, the guy was known for...

you know, having a shotgun
and all of those...

So, it made everything kind of

sound like it is a possibility,
that this could be real.

There's no evidence of it,
but I've heard it, you know?

Some of that stuff can be dangerous,
you know what I mean? So...

I mean, that's why I don't like to,
you know, deal with gossip.

I mean it's just
all innuendo, and uh...

like circumstantial, and this and that,

but I, you know...
I've seen him in the community

a couple of times.

He's walking around, you know,
so obviously,

if somebody have proof of that,
they should come forward with it.

And if they don't,
if we don't have any proof of it,

they should just let it alone.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
I kept asking around Newark about Bradley,

but, basically, he remained elusive.

And then, I got a tip.

I got a call from a person who said,
"Hey, you know what, man?

William Bradley was in
a 2010 campaign commercial

for Cory Booker
when he was running for mayor of Newark."

A re-election campaign!

I mean, this sounded
like crazy talk, you know.

It's just... I don't...

I said, "What?"

He said, "Yes, man!
He is in a video!"

Violent crime in our city
was getting worse,

but together, Newark, we took action.

Adding 300 police to our streets...

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] It's only
a millisecond, you know, that he appears,

but I froze it, and there he is...

William Bradley,

today's Al-Mustafa Shabazz.

It was just mind-blowing.
It was mind-blowing.

This is for the first time
that the world has seen

the face of the man

who allegedly took the life of Malcolm X.

He wasn't even trying to hide, you know?

He had no fear
of being clipped for this crime.

And he thought that
the process of reinvention

was so complete

that he was audacious enough
to appear on film, on video,

for a very popular mayor, now senator.

[Cory Booker] We are making Newark
safer and stronger.

And together, Newark,
we are taking back our city.

[interviewer] Are you familiar with
somebody named William Bradley

or Al-Mustafa Shabazz?

- In Newark? From Newark?
- Yeah.

Yeah.

[interviewer] Do you know
that he appeared in

a re-election campaign video
of yours in 2010,

and that he is one of the people
who allegedly

m*rder*d Malcolm X?

That connection,
I was not aware of, no.

You weren't aware of that?

You are breaking news to me. [chuckles]

He's one of the people
that is alleged by whom?

[interviewer] By Talmadge Hayer,

who is a convicted assassin,
an admitted assassin

of Malcolm X.

- Wow, I was not aware of that.
- [interviewer] Do you want to see it?

Do you have it with you right now?

[interviewer] I think we do.

- Yeah.
- [interviewer] I mean, he doesn't talk.

[interviewer 2]
He doesn't, but he appears.

[Booker]
...was getting worse,

but together, Newark, we took action.

- That brother right there.
- Yeah. No, I know him well.

I know him well.

[interviewer 2] You've never heard
anything about his affiliation with the...

I have not heard that.

- ...assassination of...?
- I have not heard that. Yeah.

[interviewer 2] Does it surprise you?

Um, again,
I would love to know the facts.

I would love to know the facts.

Yeah.

[interviewer] It's one of many threads
of Malcolm's assassination

that have not been reopened or unearthed.

Yeah, right.

And it's important to get to the truth.
And by the way,

we all know that there's been
wrongful accusations,

wrongful convictions,
and nobody should be...

Presumptions shouldn't
be made about anybody.

But, we should get to the truth.

And, uh, again,
so much of this history is tied in

with the history of Newark
and the history in our state.

Um, we should go...

We should follow the evidence,
and find out.

We should know these things.

Um, but we should not jump
to conclusions about anybody.

- That's really important.
- [interviewer 2] Fair enough.

[interviewer] Yeah, I mean,
he's been named multiple times.

Off the record,
what do you know about him?

I mean, he's the one living, um...

assassin... potential assassin.

- Assassin. Please...
- Potential.

- Potential.
- Please, keep saying "potential."

[camera shutter clicks]

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] It turns out that
after he was released from prison in 1998,

Bradley built a new life
for himself in Newark.

He married a prominent community activist,

and together they founded
a boxing gym for local youth.

That's probably how he ended up
in that Cory Booker ad.

[Bradley] Basically,
what our young kids need today,

they need someone
to give them valued time.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
He had become a kind of

grandfatherly-type figure, you know?

A mentor to the youth

who's just going to guide the kids
to the right path.

I had to set my eyes on this gym.

I didn't know if I'd see Bradley there.

I don't even know if I wanted to.

First Class Championship
Development Center

is what it's called,

and, um, I think...
I even think they have a daycare center,

if you can imagine that.

But it looks like it's closed now.

Yep, nothing but weeds now.

It's unbelievable, man.
I'm getting...

I'm really kind of getting
sick to my stomach right now, I really am.

I'm feeling some kind of way about this,
as I'm talking about it.

You know what I'm saying?

It's really making me sick.

That's the first time
I've seen it, you know?

That's the first time I've seen
that place with my own eyes.

It's just really appalling
that this has been

allowed to continue all these decades,

and no one has done
a damn thing about it.

It's really, really sickening.

Let the world see this man.

This man can no longer
hide in the shadows.

He can no longer
hide in the shadows.

Before I could confront
Bradley face-to-face,

I had to put things to rest,

and collect the evidence
to prove once and for all

that A, Bradley was guilty,

and B, Butler and Johnson
were innocent.

The trial transcripts don't reveal much.

Initially, Talmadge Hayer denied
any involvement in the m*rder.

But there was ample proof of his guilt.

I mean, he was caught at the scene
with a.45 clip in his pocket.

But when it comes to Norman Butler
and Thomas Johnson,

the only thing they had

was very contradictory
eyewitness testimony.

That's all they had.

There was no
physical evidence to speak of.

[camera shutter clicking]

[Herbert J. Stern] There was only
one way to catch the shooters,

and that was to find people,

and there were hundreds
of people in the room,

to identify who the shooters were.

That's what I was concentrated on.

There was no
physical evidence to be found.

Now you can, you know...

People can pick over that
all they want.

That's all there was to it.

[camera shutter clicking]

[Alan Marrus]
Today, jurors expect

when they hear a criminal case,

there will be forensic evidence
linking a defendant to the crime.

Obviously, DNA has become
a major, major factor

in criminal investigation.

But none of this existed
back in the 1960s.

We relied pretty much on what
people saw, what they heard.

We had ballistics evidence,

in which a g*n
in the possession of someone

matched a b*llet that was fired.

We had fingerprint evidence
that was available in rare cases.

And of course, we had statements
made by the defendants themselves

that were viewed
as very compelling evidence.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
Both Butler and Johnson had alibis,

people who testified they saw them
or spoke to them on the phone

during the exact time period
the crime took place.

Butler even had a doctor who testified

that he saw him that morning
for injuries on his leg,

that Butler said made it
near impossible for him

to walk around freely.

[Zak A. Kondo] The case against
Talmadge Hayer is ironclad,

but the case against Butler
and Johnson is weak.

[gavel bangs]

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] So the prosecution
successfully convinced the jury

that the three defendants acted
in concert with one another.

[Kondo] So whatever
is used against one,

is now going to be used against the other.

So, the ironclad case against Hayer

is now gonna be coattailed
to the weak cases

against Butler and Johnson.

And once that happened,
their fate was basically sealed.

[Talmadge Hayer]
I had stated myself

that Norman Butler and Thomas Johnson,

that they were not involved.

Originally, when the trial first started,

I actually felt that
the brothers would be cut loose.

I didn't think that
they was gonna be convicted

until the trial started going on

and it became obvious
what was being done.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
When it started to look

like Butler and Johnson
might actually be convicted,

Hayer made his big move
and took the stand a second time.

That's when he confessed to
being part of the assassination

and insisted that Butler
and Johnson were innocent.

I didn't know Hayer.
I mean, I didn't know him.

I never saw him before
in my life, never heard of him.

I knew Johnson.

We knew each other,
but we didn't know Hayer.

He knew who did it with him,
and it wasn't us.

[man] Watch the wire.

[Muhammad A. Aziz]
They want a conviction.

It doesn't make any difference
what I say or what he say,

all they care about is a conviction.

So, if the white man
say you guilty, you guilty.

Why? 'Cause he says so
and he got a g*n,

or he got a key, or he got money
and it's that simple.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
All three men, Hayer, Johnson, and Butler,

got 20 years to life.

Years later, when Talmadge Hayer
filed an affidavit

which finally provided
the names of the men

he said were his real accomplices,

a judge said he didn't
consider it new evidence.

[Marrus] There would need to be some
corroboration of these claims

in order for a court
really to be satisfied.

So, on its face, it didn't seem
to have enough substance.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
But Bill Kunstler,

the defense attorney for Hayer,

did everything humanly possible

to get the case reopened,
to get it reexamined.

And he didn't stop with Hayer's affidavit.

Mr. Kunstler also had an affidavit
from a second person

named Benjamin Goodman.

Mr. Goodman was present
at the time of the m*rder,

and he claimed, in this affidavit
that Mr. Kunstler filed,

that the other two men,
Butler and Johnson,

were not present in the auditorium
at the time of the assassination.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] Benjamin Goodman,
I know him by his Muslim name,

Benjamin Karim,
he was Malcolm's right-hand man,

and he opened up for Malcolm
that day at the Audubon.

[Benjamin Karim] For k*lling Malcolm,
to free Norman...

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
He passed away in 2005,

but I dug up an old interview he did

with a television producer
in the mid-90s.

Norman was innocent.

You couldn't have paid him
to walk through those doors,

or Johnson, because we knew them.

We knew what they were capable of.

We were in charge
of who came through that door,

and we knew every Muslim
at Number 7,

and Norman and Johnson

was as familiar as we were
there with each other.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] But Benjamin Karim
was never called to testify.

[Karim] So they were innocent.

They were railroaded into prison.

And Malcolm would not have wanted,

no matter how much they hated him,

someone to go to prison for his death,

and they were innocent.

I couldn't have
walked in that ballroom.

- [Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] Right. Right.
- Period.

Everybody in security
for Malcolm that day,

I worked with. I soldiered with.

I knew them and they knew me.

I couldn't have walked
in the place, so--

You would've been
immediately recognized.

I worked with all of them.

I worked with all of them.
Every day.

And of course, the cops know that
because BOSS, right?

Bureau of Special Services.

BOSS was all over Harlem,
and they was in the Nation.

So, the BOSS knows that,
so the police knows that.

They knew that I didn't do it.
I couldn't have done it.

If I wanted to do it,
I couldn't have done it.

So that means they knew
what they were doing

when they put me in jail.

If there was no police misconduct,

what was it?
What do you call it?

[Gil Noble] Two weeks
after the anniversary

of Malcolm X's assassination,

I went to the scene of the tragedy,

the Audubon Ballroom
in Upper Manhattan.

Although 20 years had gone by,

a strange pall hung over
the all-but-abandoned hall.

I was able to convince writer Peter Bailey
to come to the ballroom.

[A. Peter Bailey] Gil Noble had
this incredible show on WABC-TV

in New York called Like It Is.

He wanted to interview me
in the Audubon Ballroom,

which I had sworn
to never set foot in again.

Still very visual to me.

Uh... I feel a little shaky,

because the place really has, uh,

you know, bad memories
as far as I'm concerned.

I mean it was weird, you know,

I just did not like being there.

[Noble] We repositioned the
chairs where the audience sat

and cleared the stage
from which Malcolm stood

before being gunned down.

The workmen, miraculously,
dug up the actual lectern

behind which Malcolm stood that day.

[Bailey] And one
of the things I see is this,

I guess it's called a rostrum,

and you could see b*llet holes in it

and then chalk marks
surrounding them.

[Noble] The b*llet holes
were still visible.

And he had found this
in the basement at the Audubon.

And to me when I saw it,

that just kind of confirmed my belief

that they never had any intentions

of seriously investigating
that assassination.

Why would you leave
a piece of evidence like that?

All those years,
it had been down there

in the basement.

[expl*si*n]

[Kondo] If we want to understand

the New York City
Police Department's involvement

in Malcolm's assassination,

you got to go back
a few days before,

actually a week before.

Because what happened
a week before

is that Malcolm's house
was firebombed.

[siren wails]

[reporter]
While Malcolm X, his wife,

and their four children slept,

three Molotov c*ck
were thrown into the house.

The property was badly damaged.

[Betty Shabazz] I remember him
pushing me out of the bedroom,

and I saw all of the fire.

My husband brought the baby
to me and told me to stand.

Then he brought
my other children to me.

[Malcolm X] Had that fire
gone through that window,

it would have fallen on
a six-year-old girl,

a four-year-old girl,
and a two-year-old girl.

And if you attack me,
that's one thing.

I know what to do
when you start attacking me.

But when you attack
sleeping babies,

why, you are lower than a god...

[crowd cheering]

[reporter] He blames the Muslims
on the firebombing

of his New York home.
Do you have a comment on that?

It looks to me
like he did the job himself.

[Kondo]
There was a bottle of gasoline

that was found in his house!

We believe that it was put there
by either a police person

or somebody in a fireman's uniform.

Eventually what happens is that

the NYPD begins to go
off the record to reporters.

And saying, you know,

"This is suspicious.
You know, we're not sure

if a firebombing actually took place.

Malcolm may possibly
have done this

for a publicity stunt."

It sends out the message

that you don't have to take
Malcolm's security that serious

because he's willing
to b*mb his own house.

You know what
the temperature was?

It was about 15 or 20.

I stood in my underwear,

bare feet, in the middle
of my driveway

with a g*n in my hand
for 45 minutes

waiting for the police,

or waiting for
the fire department to come.

If I want to put on a show,

I could find a better way
than that to put it on.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
Even before their house was firebombed,

Malcolm and his family
had plenty of reasons

not to trust the NYPD.

[reporter]
Has anyone threatened you?

[Shabazz]
That's all I get is threats.

And I called the 114th precinct
a few days ago.

They informed me that it was
nothing they could do, you know.

[Muhammad]
But in those final weeks,

it was clear Malcolm was
in dire need of protection.

It was also clear
that he wasn't getting it.

[crowd applauding]

[Zaheer Ali] That is part
of the complex tragedy

of Malcolm,
but of being black in America.

Martin Luther King
has been to jail.

James Farmer has been to jail.

Why, you can't name
a black man in this country

who is sick and tired
of the hell that he's catching

who hasn't been to jail.

[crowd cheers]

[Ali] To turn to the people
or the system

that inflicted damage on you
to protect you...

Like, how crazy is that?

[Malcolm X]
So the policemen in this country

are the ones who are
responsible for the brutality.

The policemen themselves
have become guilty

of violating the rights of the people.

So what are the people to do?

Call upon the same ones

who are victimizing them
to protect them?

No!

They have to protect themselves.

Excuse me for raising my voice.

They have to protect themselves.
But I get excited...

[interviewer] You knew he was in grave,
mortal danger?

No question.

[interviewer] Didn't you see yourselves
as duty-bound to protect this man

from an imminent death threat?

Not, uh... I wouldn't say
I didn't see that.

All I could see was the expense.

That's really all I could see.

"We can't afford it."
It's 24/7, cops, detectives...

Can't do it.
But we know he's in danger,

and we are duty-bound
to acknowledge it.

So it was then that I struck
my cleverest note.

I said, "Your answer is obvious.

We'll all go off,
tell him that his life is in danger.

We'll offer him security,
he will decline it,

and we need to document that."

If you look carefully through

the New York City Police Archives,

you will see a document
where we offered him security

and he declined it.

So it was a cynical gesture, for sure.

[interviewer] A cynical gesture?

Yes.

A cynical gesture.

Me offering him something
I knew he would refuse,

and that I expected
and wanted him to refuse.

[interviewer] Why did you know
he would refuse it?

I knew Malcolm. That's why.

[Malcolm X] I think people
should question

some of the police who investigated
the bombing out there that night,

and let them give their story
as to whether or not

I could have set those bombs.

[Kondo] Malcolm did not trust the police.

And so he did not take security
the way that it was needed.

And what ultimately happens is,
a week later,

his security is going to be compromised.

And who compromises it?

The New York City
Police Department.

And once his security
was compromised,

he was basically a sitting duck.

[reporter] Do you think
New York Police are providing

enough protection, or do you feel
that you have to provide your own?

[Malcolm X] Do I feel that the
New York Police are providing

enough protection,
or do I have to have

protection of my own?

I look for protection from Allah.

[reporter] My guest tonight,
Malcolm X,

once the number two man
in the Black Muslims,

now broken with Elijah Muhammad.

He says he's a marked man
and that a number of attempts

have been made on his life.

You say five different attempts recently.

- How were they attempted?
- [Malcolm X] Yes, um,

more than five.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
Malcolm was a U.S. citizen.

He was also a very high-profile,
public personality.

He was under constant threat.

He was being followed.

And the authorities
had a responsibility, I believe,

to protect his life at all costs.

[Malcolm X] I am very happy
to be here this evening.

And I'm thankful for the invitation
to come here to Detroit.

Uh, I was in a house last night
that was bombed, my own.

[clears throat] Excuse me
if I keep coughing like that,

but I got some of that
smoke last night...

[Kondo] During
that last week or so,

Malcolm was unraveled.

He wondered, I think,

how his family was going
to be taken care of.

[Malcolm X] And when
this expl*si*n took place,

in trying to get my family
out of the house,

none of us stopped
for any clothes.

The only thing I could get my hands on is
what I have on now.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] He was homeless.
He was literally homeless.

And I was told
by his personal secretary

that he didn't even have


He couldn't even buy
an insurance policy.

No insurance company
would sell him a policy.

It was coming.

And he knew it was coming

and everyone else
knew it was coming.

He said, "It will
all be over soon."

It was clear that he was
under enormous pressure,

and that leads me
to that February morning.

[ominous music]

It was Sunday morning.

It was a cold,
bitterly cold morning, I remember.

[police sirens wailing]

[Louis Omar] That Sunday,
there were just all kinds of signs...

that something was going on.

[ominous music continues]

Death was all over Malcolm
that whole day.

[Ali] The deterrent effect

of having law enforcement
present was not there.

On that day, there were
two uniformed officers

and they're kind of upstairs,
away from the crowd.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
If anything--

the man's house was firebombed
the previous week--

you add more security!

There was virtually no security.

[Noble] The last time
you cased the joint,

- police were there, you knew that the...
- If... If...

If... If...
It would have been a deterrent

if the officer was stationed
in such a position

that it could have affected
the situation of entering.

It would have been a deterrent
if, uh, there was a search at the door.

Um, it could have been a deterrent,

um, in that respect.

You know... Entering the place
would have been impossible

under those circumstances.

But none of this happened.

[Noble] Tell me where you sat.

[Hayer] Down in front, in the front row,

uh, basically, on the left-hand side

close to the front of the stage.

[Ali] No officers in sight.

No security procedure
to get into the ballroom.

The assassins just walked in there,

and Malcolm's security coordinator,

a man named Gene Roberts,

had only a small security force
to protect Malcolm.

I was part of the front rostrum guards,

the guards that stand
in front of the stage,

and when Malcolm came
into the ballroom that Sunday,

I escorted him in the back
to a little office area.

As the rally started to form up,

I noticed three people
sitting on the front row

reading newspapers.

I didn't bother to mention it because
they were there before I got there,

and I figured they had
already been checked out.

[man talking indistinctly]

[crowd cheers]

[Roberts] Just as Malcolm
was being introduced...

- [Malcolm X] Salaam-alaikum.
- [crowd] Alaikum-Salaam.

[man] Get your hand out of my pocket!

[Malcolm X] Hold it, hold it, hold it...

[Roberts] Two individuals
started a commotion,

and I started walking towards them.

And the next thing I know,
I see these guys firing shots.

[g*ns firing]

- [shouting]
- [g*nshots]

And everybody panicked.

People were knocking
over chairs, running out.

Two of the individuals ran right by me,

and the last guy,
I hit him with the chair.

He stumbles, he gets up,
he runs outside.

[indistinct shouting]

I went straight to the stage,

felt Malcolm's pulse.

He still had one,
but it was weak.

And then I started to, um...

started to give him
mouth-to-mouth.

After maybe about five minutes,

uh, not wanting to tell Betty
that he was dead,

I told Betty that, um,

"I'm getting a little dizzy."

Maybe somebody else could try.

At that point,
she got on her knees next to him,

but it was too late.

[reporter 1] Mrs. Shabazz,
do you believe

it was the Black Muslims
who assassinated your husband?

Do you think, ma'am,
that this assassination

is likely to touch off reprisals
against Black Muslims

by Malcolm's followers?

[reporter 2] Will you make
any effort at all

to continue your husband's work?

[reporter 1] What
do you see as the future

of your husband's
movement, ma'am?

Do you think it will
continue without him?

[reporter 2] Since the bombing
of your home,

have the police made any effort
to offer you protection?

[reporter 1] If Malcolm's
assassins are caught,

what do you think
should be done with them?

[reporter 2] Did you start
to reply to the question

about the police protection?

Did they make any effort at all
to offer you protection?

Well, I guess
they did make an effort, yes.

[reporter 2] Did they offer you
a bodyguard or anything like that?

- No.
- Do you want police protection?

[indistinct speaking]

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] After he tried
and failed to save his boss' life,

Gene Roberts left the Audubon.

I couldn't feel anything
until I got home...

after which, I start shaking like a leaf.

My mom and dad was visibly upset.

And, you know, they asked me
if I was all right and everything.

I said, "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine."

I told them I had to make
a couple of phone calls.

I called my supervisor up.

I told him, uh,
that Malcolm had been shot.

I was told to come into the office
the next morning,

which was Bureau
of Special Services.

[siren wails]

[Gerry Lefcourt] It's true.

Gene Roberts was one
of those operatives

working for the NYPD
in the Bureau of Special Services

who was put in
to various black groups.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
If there's any doubt whether the NYPD

really cared about the fate
of Malcolm and his family,

the story of Gene Roberts
puts it to rest.

Roberts was
an undercover police officer.

He belonged to a very
secretive unit within the NYPD.

He had managed to infiltrate
Malcolm's organization,

and he rose to the position
of personal bodyguard

and security for Malcolm.

[Roberts] I had never done
anything of this nature before.

But at that time,
I had a pregnant wife,

and hey, it's a job,
and let's go out and do it.

[Bouza] We wanted someone

to infiltrate Malcolm's new organization.

We didn't know
where Malcolm was going,

or what he was going to do,

or whether he
was going to break the law.

We just figured out what we needed.

Black male, no roots in the
police department, no relatives.

And, uh, we'd say,

"We'll induct you into the police
department on January 1."

But you never get a uniform,
never get a g*n.

You'd never even get sworn in!

Nobody knows you
except a particular little group

which was Bureau of Special Services.

I didn't know whether
I had backup or not,

I was just out there.

Far as I know,
I was out there by myself.

[Bouza] Malcolm thought
that the police department

was monitoring him,
but in a very obvious way.

I don't think he understood
that his closest associate

was working for us.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] Turns out,
not only did Malcolm not know

about Roberts, the prosecution
in the case didn't either.

Which means that Roberts was never
interviewed for the investigation,

even though he was right there.

I like to think that
he was standing on post,

facing out at the audience,

and he could see all of the faces
in that audience of 400 people,

including the faces
of the five assassins.

I didn't know about him.
I was never told about him, okay?

At the time,
in charge of the investigation,

I knew nothing about
the existence of this man. Nothing.

[Herbert J. Stern]
They wanted to protect his identity,

but they sure protected it from me.

I don't know what side
they thought I was on,

but I didn't know anything
about him. [chuckles]

[Lefcourt] There was
a LIFE magazine article,

uh, which there's a picture
of Gene Roberts

giving mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation to Malcolm X

after he had been shot.

Pretty shocking thing.

Nobody knew that he was
an intelligence operative.

Nobody ever knew he was there!

[Roberts] I didn't sleep well that night.

The next day, I get called down
by the department,

and the basic question was,

"Why did you do that?"

Knocked a guy down with a chair,

give Malcolm mouth-to-mouth.

And I told them that
my only reasoning was

because I was a cop,
and it was my job

to possibly save lives if I could.

What am I supposed to do?
Just let him lay there and die?

[Bouza] Why would you do that?

You're a cop. He's a thug,

and you're giving him
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Inappropriate.

This is them, we are us.
We don't do that.

You're not there to be Malcolm's friend.

You're there to monitor his behavior,

or maybe lead to his arrest.

They're not autonomous agents.

These are spies and tools.

They're not even allowed to think.

They're only there
to observe and report.

So, thinking is dangerous.

[Stern] Somebody in the executive level

obviously made a decision

that they did not want
to surface this man.

Maybe they were afraid
that if they told me,

I would've insisted that he be a witness.

I don't know. I don't even know
what he would've said,

because... [chuckles]
I never even got to see him.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad]
If the NYPD had an agent

in the Audubon that day,

close enough to give him
mouth-to-mouth,

it makes me wonder who else
law enforcement had on the inside

that nobody knows about.

[Arthur Fulton] Sunday afternoon,
I was listening to music

and Malcolm was shot.

I got up, went upstairs,
started to get dressed.

Mary said, "Where are you going?"

I said, "I'm going to work."

She said, "The office hasn't called."

I said, "They will."

The phone rang and I heard her say,

"He's on his way,
he just left." [laughs]

The whole squad was called in.

And the supervisor
sent me to be liaison

with the police department
on the investigation.

[interviewer] Did the Bureau have anybody
in the Audubon Ballroom that day?

[Fulton] Nine informants.

[interviewer] Nine?

[Fulton] Nine informants.
I had nine informants.

We got a report from all of them.

A couple of them just quit.

The sh**ting was more
than they bargained for.

Chief, were there any
plainclothesmen in the audience?

No, there were not.

[Abdur-Rahman Muhammad] If Gene Roberts
had been allowed to take the stand

at Malcolm's trial,

would he have been able to identify
the man with the shotgun?

We'll never know.

William Bradley,
Al-Mustafa Shabazz,

if he was in fact
the shotgun assassin,

he walked out
of the Audubon that day,

and disappeared into obscurity.