Killer of Malcolm X May Run His Mosque

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has appointed one of Malcolm X’s convicted assassins to head the Harlem mosque the black rights activist led before his murder, the Village Voice reported. The weekly newspaper quoted Nation of Islam sources as saying that convicted murderer Muhammad Abdul Aziz would also be the East Coast security chief of Farrakhan’s group. Malcolm X rose to prominence as head of Mosque No. 7 in Harlem before he was gunned down in the Audubon Ballroom in New York on Feb. 21, 1965. Aziz, formerly known as Norman 3X Butler, and Khalil Islam and Thomas Hagan were the three men convicted in the 1966 slaying.