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New allegations regarding Malcolm X’s death have surfaced in a letter written by a former New York Police Department officer on his deathbed.
On January 25, 2011, Ray Wood, who was serving as an undercover police officer on the day of Malcolm X’s death, wrote a letter in which he admitted to “participating in actions which, in retrospect, were deplorable and harmful to advancement of my own blacks. “
When Wood was hired by the NYPD in 1964, his job was to “infiltrate civil rights organizations” to find evidence of criminal activity so that the FBI could discredit subjects and arrest its leaders, Wood wrote in the letter obtained by ABC News.
Wood’s manager engineered the arrest of two of Malcolm X’s “key” security personnel in a plot to bomb the Statue of Liberty days before his assassination in 1965, Wood wrote. The plot involved three members of a black “terrorist group” and a Canadian woman who planned to dynamite the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and the Washington Monument, The New York Times reported on February 16, 1965.
“It was my mission to lure the two men into a federal criminal felony, so that they could be arrested by the FBI and prevented from managing the security of Malcolm X’s door on February 21, 1965,” Wood wrote. “… At that point, I didn’t know Malcolm X was the target.”
Malcolm X was assassinated in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom while addressing the Organization of African American Unity on February 21, 1965. Three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted of his murder .
Wood alleged in the letter that “his actions on behalf of the New York City Police Department (BOSSI) were carried out under duress and fear,” adding that he could have suffered “adverse consequences” if he he had not followed the orders of his masters.
“After witnessing repeated brutality from my colleagues (the police), I tried to resign,” he wrote. “Instead, I was threatened with arrest with charges of trafficking marijuana and alcohol if I didn’t follow through on the missions.
Wood wrote that, faced with failing health, he feared the family of Thomas Johnson, one of the men convicted of Malcolm X’s murder, would not be able to exonerate him after Wood’s death. Johnson was arrested at the Audubon Ballroom the night Malcolm X was killed to protect Wood’s cover and “FBI and NYPD secrets,” Wood wrote.
Wood gave his entire confession to his cousin, Reginald Wood Jr., and asked that the information be kept until his death.
“I hope this information will be received with the understanding that I have carried these secrets with a heavy heart and regret my involvement in this matter,” Wood wrote.
Wood’s cousin, who wrote the book “The Ray Wood Story”, published earlier this month, described Wood on “Good Morning America” as a “good man who was deceived and forced to betray his own people “.
“And he felt bad and had remorse for it,” Reggie Wood said.
Last year, the New York District Attorney’s Office launched yet another investigation into Malcolm X’s death and those convicted after the documentary “Who Killed Malcolm X?” streamed on Netflix.
In response to an ABC News investigation, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said, “Our office’s review of this matter is active and ongoing.”
NYPD spokesperson Sgt. Jessica McRorie said in a statement that the NYPD has provided “all available documents relating to this matter” to the district attorney’s office.
The FBI did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump called the review of Malcolm X’s death restorative justice.
“It’s the only way to bridge that gap,” Crump told “GMA”. “We need to be transparent, present accountability, and that’s the only way we can trust.”
Derrick Johnson, chief executive officer of the NAACP, told “GMA” that “far too many African Americans who have stood up, who express equality and justice in this country, have found themselves persecuted, prosecuted or , in the case of Malcolm X, murdered. “
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin, Aaron Katersky and Samara Lynn contributed to this report.
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