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What threats and attacks did Malcolm X face after leaving the Nation of Islam?
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Malcolm X
Prominent figure in the Nation of Islam Malcolm X, 1965.
After Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam in March 1964, the growing hostility between him and his former organization resulted in persistent death threats and acts of open violence directed toward him.12
Malcolm X came to believe that he was being specifically targeted by Elijah Muhammad and his followers following their public falling out. This period of mounting tension and danger culminated on February 21, 1965, when Malcolm was assassinated while delivering a lecture at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. Three members of the Nation of Islam were subsequently convicted of his murder, though two of those individuals were later exonerated in 2021.3124