The Messenger, page 54
Recommendation: That the enclosed memorandum be routed to Assistant Director DeLoach for his consideration.
[Final lines and notations redacted]
(page 2)
February 10, 1964
“The Rift Widens between Elijah Muhammad and His Principal Lieutenant Malcolm X Little”
The rift between Elijah Muhammad, self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah and the leader of the fanatical Black Muslim hate group, and his erstwhile Lieutenant Malcolm X Little appears to be widening. Little was silenced officially and publicly by Muhammad a short while after President Kennedy’s assassination inasmuch as Little had made stupid and ill-timed remarks to the effect that President Kennedy’s death gave him pleasure.
Little has not taken this disciplinary action gracefully and he has attempted to develop sympathy and backing for his position among other leaders of the Black Muslims in various sections of the country. He evidently feels that Elijah Muhammad is in his declining years and that he is slipping. It is no secret that Little would not hesitate one moment to take over the leadership of the Nation of Islam (NOI) and incidentally begin living in the regal style which Elijah Muhammad enjoys. While Muhammad may be getting older, he is far from ready to hand over the reins of the NOI and all the affluent service benefits that go with it to Little. Muhammad is reportedly fuming at the temerity Little has exhibited in questioning the “Messenger’s” judgment and it would not surprise anyone at all familiar with the works of the NOI to see Little summarily expelled from this organization if he continues to buck the orders and wishes of Elijah Muhammad.
[Final lines redacted]
V: The FBI’s New York File on Malcolm X
Author’s Note: Following Malcolm X’s return from his second successful trip to Africa and mounting concerns by the FBI, the State Department, the Justice Department (notably Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Burke Marshall), and the CIA that his proposed United Nations petition was picking up support, the FBI beefed up its surveillance. Not only was there a wiretap on his office and home telephones, but physical surveillance was also reinforced, so much so that Malcolm X was watched by FBI agents from dawn to sundown. Below are two excerpts from the final days in the life of Malcolm X, as recorded by FBI agents who tracked him. Also included are excerpts from the wiretap on his home telephone.
(a)
Federal Bureau of Investigation
File No.: NY105-8999-A (January, 1965)
Physical Surveillance Log
Subject: Malcolm X Little
Date: January 20, 1965
Agents on Duty: [names deleted]
Code No.: [blank]
Shift: [blank]
Team: [blank]
Synopsis
Observed [checked]
Not Observed: [not checked]
Contact Made: [not checked]
Unusual Activity: [not checked]
Indexing Needed: No
Case Agent: [name deleted]
What follows are the handwritten notes of the agents following Malcolm X on January 20, 1965:
Observation of Malcolm X Little on January 20, 1965
9:07 A.M.: Surveillance instituted [in the] vicinity of 23-11 97th Street, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York [tiny redaction under FOIA Exception B7c suggest observing agent’s initials were blotted out].
(Subject’s car, 1963 midnight blue Oldsmobile, 4-door, NY license 1G-2220, parked around corner on 23rd Avenue, west of 97th Street).
1:00 p.m.: Subject’s car with one unknown occupant observed crossing 97th Street traveling east on 23rd Avenue. Vehicle not observed thereafter [tiny redaction, again indicative of initials].
2:00 p.m.: Unknown Negro female, [half a line redacted], departed residence and entered [half a line redacted] driven by unknown Negro male. Drove north on 97th Street and turned west on 23rd Avenue [tiny redaction].
2:35 p.m.: Surveillance discontinued [indicating that agent’s shift ended at 3:00 p.m].
3:02 p.m. Surveillance instituted [in the] vicinity of Hotel Theresa, 209 7th Avenue (at 125th Street, New York City). Subject’s car parked on east side of 7th Avenue, one-fourth block north of 125th Street [tiny redaction].
4:00 p.m. Subject departed Hotel Theresa, walked to car, drove north on 7th Avenue to 135th Street, turned east on 135th Street and parked on north side of West 135th Street, opposite “22 West” restaurant, 22 West 135th Street, New York City [small redaction].
4:08 p.m.: Subject entered “22 West” restaurant [small redaction].
6:50 p.m. Surveillance discontinued. Subject’s car still parked at above spot [small redaction].
(b)
Federal Bureau of Investigation
File No.: NY105-8999-A (January, 1965)
Physical Surveillance Log
Subject: Malcolm X Little
Date: January 21, 1965
Agents on Duty: [names deleted]
Code No.: [blank]
Shift: [blank]
Team: [blank]
Synopsis
Observed [check-marked]
Not Observed: [not checked]
Contact Made: [not checked]
Memo Prepared: [not checked]
Unusual Activity: [not checked]
Indexing Needed: No
Case Agent: [name deleted]
What follows are the handwritten notes of the agents following Malcolm X on January 21, 1965:
Observation of Malcolm X Little on January 21, 1965
9:11 A.M.: Surveillance instituted [in the] vicinity of 23-11 97th Street, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York [data, probably agent’s initials, redacted].
9:25 A.M.: Subject departed residence, walked to corner of 97th Street and 23rd Avenue, and entered “Moe’s Stationery” store, 90-02 23rd Avenue, East Elmhurst, Queens [same redaction].
9:30 A.M.: Departed store carrying newspaper and entered residence [same redaction].
1:15 P.M.: Subject [name redacted, but logically it was Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X’s wife] departed residence with two children (girls) and walked south on 97th Street [same probable redaction].
1:22 P.M.: Subject departed residence and entered car [half a line of date blackened out], and drove to Harlem by proceeding west on 23rd Avenue to 94th Street, north on 94th Street to Grand Central Parkway [GCP], west on GCP over Tri-Borough Bridge to 125th Street, west on 125th Street in Harlem.
1:42 P.M.: Parked car in vicinity of 75 West 125th Street, New York City (possibly entered Carver Federal Savings Bank at that address).
1:47 P.M.: Returned to car and drove west on 125th to 7th Avenue [indecipherable] on 7th Avenue].
1:50 P.M.: Parked car on west side of 7th Avenue [word indecipherable] of 124th Street and entered Hotel Theresa, 209 7th Avenue, New York City [agent’s initials probably redacted].
2:58 P.M.: Subject departed hotel, placed money in parking meter at his car and returned to hotel [initials blotted out].
3:03 P.M.: Surveillance discontinued [signaling end of this agent’s shift, from 7 A.M. through 3 P.M.].
VI. Federal Bureau of Investigation/ELSUR
Author’s Note: The FBI maintained a wiretap on Malcolm X’s telephone for several years. Despite many requests for declassification of the electronic surveillance (ELSUR) logs and collateral material, the Bureau did not make the ELSUR logs generally available until 1996. One look at the files may expose why the FBI was hesitant to release the logs. They prove conclusively that the Bureau was aware as early as July 1964 that Malcolm X’s life was in danger, and that the NOI was doing everything within its power to bring about his death. These excerpts provide a mere glimpse into information the FBI recorded during Malcolm X’s final days.
File No.: NY105-8999-A (January, 1965)
Subject: Malcolm X Little
Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR) Log
(a)
Subject Malcolm X Little
File Number: 105-8999—Sub 1 (ELSUR Logs)
Time: 12:18 P.M.
Date: Friday, June 5, 1964
Special Agent [data deleted] R1382-14 & 08995-42
[Several lines redacted]
Malcolm says that he appeared on “The Joe Rainey (phonetic) Show” on radio last night (June 4, 1964). Malcolm said the radio show emanated from Philadelphia, Penn., and that during the course of the program a Muslim from Philadelphia telephoned the program and asked why he, Malcolm X, was thrown out of the NOI. Malcolm said he gave his explanation to this “without mentioning the Messenger’s name.” Malcolm said that he [about half a line of data redacted] discovered that six teenage sisters had become pregnant by the Messenger and that this same man (the Messenger) had these pregnant sisters thrown out of the Muslims because they were harlots and tramps. Malcolm continued that when the Messenger found out that he, Malcolm, was wise to the sexual degeneracies of the Messenger, the Messenger told the Fruit of Islam to kill him (Malcolm X), if possible, and to disrupt all meetings held by Malcolm. Malcolm says this policy of violence by the Messenger “can only lead to murder being committed by Muslim against Muslim.” Malcolm says that if any [members] of the Messenger’s Fruit of Islam try to break up any of his, Malcolm’s meetings, there will be bloodshed [the majority of the rest of the page is blackened out].
(b)
Time: 1:08 P.M.
Date: Sunday, June 7, 1964
[Name redacted] called and wants Malcolm to call him at CV-2-66187.
Time: 1:50 P.M.
Sunday, June 7, 1964
Members of the Uruba Temple want Malcolm to call them at UN-4-5344.
Time: 3:25 P.M.
Date: Sunday, June 7, 1964
Malcolm X to Unwoman [unknown woman] asking her to tell [party’s identity redacted] about the Messenger’s escapades with his secretaries and how the Messenger made them all pregnant. Malcolm says that [party’s identity blackened out] must be told that the Nation of Islam is factionalized and that both factions will commit murders on each other unless the truth is publicized about the Messenger’s bad deeds. Malcolm says he is not fooling or speaking for effect when he says that bloodshed will take place as “it almost happened yesterday in New York when those who were in the Mosque came up to the corner where we had a meeting going on and absolutely tried to start some trouble.” Malcolm continued: “The only thing that saved us and stopped trouble from starting was that one of [the] brothers went to the trunk of his car and got a shotgun out and chased away the Black Muslims.” Malcolm says that if any violence takes place it will mean that innocent people will get killed. He continued that the Messenger and [identity redacted] are trying to “create a situation of bloodshed so that I (Malcolm X) will be caught up in it.”
Unknown woman asks: “You mean the Messenger is that ruthless?”
Malcolm answers that “any man who will go to bed with his brother’s daughter and then turn and make five other women pregnant and then accuse all these women of committing adultery is a ruthless man.” Malcolm says that the only reason the Messenger wants him dead is that he, Malcolm, is the only one who can make the girls the Messenger has violated tell the truth about the Messenger. Malcolm tells unknown woman to tell all [two lines deleted] will be interested in knowing that the Messenger is now living in Phoenix, Arizona, with two teenage girls.…
Time: 4:02 P.M.
Date: Sunday, June 7, 1964
Special Agent: [identity deleted] R1874-37
Unknown woman to Malcolm X. Malcolm says the split in the Nation of Islam has brought about nothing by negative results. He says “every time I think of how those niggers threw me out of the Nation of Islam, I get mad.” He continues that “it is dangerous to have the Muslims controlled by criminals of the ilk of [name redacted] and the like.” He says there must be some way we can salvage the Black Muslim movement before it is too late. Unknown woman says she is sure Malcolm can save the Muslims from the clutches of the Messenger. He says he feels he can save the Muslims if he can lift the cloud of the Messenger’s misdeeds from them by exposing the Messenger to the public. Malcolm says the FBI and the local police department do not want public exposure of the Messenger’s sexual escapades as they (FBI and PD) would lose the whip they use to control the Black Muslims. Malcolm says that the Messenger’s fear of exposure by law enforcement agencies keeps the Messenger from leading the Black Muslims to their full potential.
Unknown woman says that if Malcolm has faith in Allah, all will go well with his cause.
(c)
Time: 9:08 A.M.
Date: Monday, June 8, 1964
W-5392-24
Unknown man to unknown woman. Caller asks to speak to “Brother Malcolm.” Woman answering asks who is calling. Man replies that he just wants to speak to Brother Malcolm. Then when woman again asks who is calling, the man says she can just give Malcolm the message: “Just tell him he’s as good as dead.” He then hangs up.
VII: Investigation of Malcolm X’s Assassination
Author’s Note: Within days of Malcolm X’s assassination, the FBI’s investigation focused on three mosques: Mosque No. 7 in Harlem, Mosque No. 11 in Boston, and Mosque No. 25 in Newark. The name of Minister Louis Farrakhan surfaced during the murder investigation as a leader with ties to all three mosques. Farrakhan was interrogated regarding the assassination, but the results were never made public. Moreover, the FBI’s investigation indicated that Johnson and Butler probably were not involved, but at least two other individuals were; Linwood X and Edward Oliver, both of the Newark mosque, were identified by a number of witnesses to the murder.
Regarding the documents below, “NK” refers to Newark, while “NY” refers to New York. Similarly, “PH” in the second memo is an abbreviation for Phoenix, and “BS” refers to Boston. The excerpts are from a few key documents focusing on suspects who were never closely questioned by the FBI despite its suspicion of their complicity.
(a)
Date: April 9, 1965
To: Director, FBI
From, SAC, New York
Subject: Malcolm X Little
ReNKairtels, March 4, 1965 and March 8, 1965, and NYairtel, March 23, 1965 referring to a Linwood X.
The photo of [name deleted] enclosed with NK airtel March 4, 1965, was displayed to the [line redacted] with negative results.
(b)
Date: April 9, 1965
To: Director, FBI
From: SAC, Philadelphia
[Subject] Malcolm X Little
RePHairtel to Director, March 30, 1965, cc New York; NYairtel to Director, April 1, 1965, cc Philadelphia; Buairtel to New York and Philadelphia, April 2, 1965.
A photograph of Edward Oliver, furnished by the New York Office, was exhibited to [names redacted, along with other data] could identify Oliver. They stated that to their knowledge they had never seen him before.
In reNYairtel it is noted that [data redacted] resembled two individuals who sat in the middle of the audience at the Audubon Ballroom, New York City, on February 21, 1965 and jumped up at about the time Malcolm X appeared at the rostrum. One of these individuals shouted that someone “got into his pocket.”
[Final paragraph redacted, along with next page]
(c)
Date: April 13, 1965
To: SAC, New York
From: Director, FBI
Subject: Malcolm X Little
1—Mr. Horner
1—Mr. Floyd
1—Mr. Rosack
ReBSlet March 25, 1965 captioned [data blackened out], aka [data redacted], a copy of which is attached for the Newark Office which has not previously received copies.
New York should carefully review the information contained in referenced letter as furnished by the late [name redacted]. After this review, New York should determine whether [name redacted] had been interviewed by the [data deleted] during his visit there after the murder of Little. An attempt should be made to determine whether the information contained in referenced letter is already in the possession of the [organization’s identification deleted], particularly the information alleging that the individual who fired the shotgun at Little was supposedly a lieutenant from the Newark Temple of the Nation of Islam (NOI). In the event this information is not already in the possession of the [organization’s identification blackened out], such information should not be furnished to the NYCPD [New York City Police Department] without first receiving Bureau authority.
Newark should review its files for the purpose of identifying the lieutenant in the Newark Temple of the NOI. If Newark has not already done so, a photograph of this lieutenant should be furnished to the New York Office for the purpose of having [rest of line deleted]. This matter should be handled promptly.
Boston should in the future insure that copies of all communications are furnished to every interested office so that it will not be necessary for the FBI to furnish copies of such communications to additional interested offices.
2—Newark (enclosure)
1—Boston
VIII. FBI HQ File on Satohata Takahashi and the Society for the Development of Our Own
Author’s Note: While it has long been rumored that Wallace D. Fard did not “disappear” in a puff of smoke as the NOI has suggested for more than half a century, the declassified documents on Satohata Takahashi, the Japanese expatriate who had a lasting influence on the NOI, were the first to corroborate charges first aired by Iman Hamaas Abdul Khaalis that Fard had never really left the United States after his arrest in September 1933. According to Khaalis, Fard maintained contact with Elijah Muhammad for decades after his alleged disappearance, and in fact was influential in shaping the movement behind the scenes. Malcolm X was unaware of his presence, but members of Muhammad’s family were reportedly well aware of it, Khaalis maintains. The second letter written by Khaalis in early 1973 was the first significant document to link Fard with the SDOO, an organization which Fard allegedly took credit for organizing. Like the NOI, the SDOO had as many as 7,000 followers during Fard’s affiliation. Note that the Articles of Incorporation for the SDOO were filed in Lansing, Michigan, less than two weeks after Fard’s alleged disappearance (see memo, below).
The FBI never realized Fard’s connection with the sect because he used yet another alias; according to Khaalis, Fard started using the alias of “John Walker” or “John M. Walker.” There are, interestingly, references to “John Walker” in the Takahashi file. The pertinent portion of one memorandum appears below. Other prominent officers of the organization, notably, used the surname “Pharr,” a name similar to the one Fard may have used while in San Francisco in the early 1920s.
