Afro-Mexican activists vow to continue protest, hunger strike over murder of Malcolm X grandson

By Saeed Shabazz -Staff Writer- | Last updated: Jul 19, 2013 - 12:15:21 PM

Afro-Mexican activists protest the handling of the brutal murder of Malcolm Shabazz.

(FinalCall.com) - In the early morning hours of July 14 The Final Call received a “communicado” from Mexico City-based Citizens for the Defense of Naturalized Afro-Mexicans saying protests demanding justice after the killing of the grandson of Malcolm X would go on despite a police raid that ended a hunger strike.

Dr. Wilner Metelus, president of the group, called for the “support (of) all human beings on the planet that there is justice for our brother Malcolm Latif who was murdered in cold blood in Mexico. We will not step back!”

According to Dr. Randy Short, the Baltimore-based spokesman for the group, approximately 1,000 riot-clad Mexican police officers attacked 30 members of the organization on the eighth-day of a hunger strike outside the Federal District of Mexico City’s Governor’s Palace.

“CCDNAM had been staging their hunger strike to express their outrage in the manner in which the police allegedly handled the May 9 murder of Malcolm Latif Shabazz, 28, the grandson of Nation of Islam Minister Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz,” Mr. Short said. “Suspicions of Afro-Mexicans were inflamed by the rapidity of the closure of the case that mirrored a pattern witnessed before when a Black Mexican was brutally murdered in May 2011; many believing his death was racially motivated at the hands of police.”

“We are not very clear up to this point why we were attacked, but in my judgment there was pressure (to silence us),” wrote hunger strike co-organizer Lance George Brown in an e-mail to The Final Call. “Plainly they are covering up some truth around young Malcolm’s death,” he added.

The Associated Press and Huffington Post reported Mexico City Attorney General Rodolfo Rios named two waiters at the Palace Bar in Mexico City, Alejandro David Perez de Jesus, 24, and David Hernandez Cruz, 24, as suspects in the attack against Mr. Shabazz.

According to Huffington Post, Attorney General Rios said an autopsy report showed Mr. Shabazz died from blows to the head, face and torso. It was also reported that authorities wanted to question the bar’s owner while threatening to issue a warrant for covering up a crime.

On May 18 a Mexico City judge ordered the imprisonment of the two waiters. They are charged with theft and homicide, according to reports.

News reports say Miguel Suarez, a Mexican labor leader deported from the United States in April, was hosting Mr. Shabazz in Mexico. They were allegedly drinking in the Palace Bar when presented with a bill for 15,000 pesos or $1,200 and an argument and fight ensued.

Mr. Shabazz later died at a hospital from his injuries. Plaza Garibaldi, the street where Mr. Shabazz’s badly beaten body was discovered, is a busy tourist spot.

“This is a very grave matter and those of us who have signed this petition are scrutinizing the U.S. government very closely for their lack of interest and/or coverage of this young man’s savage beating and murder in a foreign country,” said sponsors of a Change.org petition. The petition is for Secretary of State John Kerry. Petitioners want the last 24 to 72 hours of Mr. Shabazz’s life and steps upon his entering Mexico retraced and the truth about who actually murdered him.

“Considering how closely he was being watched by your government’s FBI and CIA agencies, there is no reason they should not be able to provide this information in great detail,” the petition said.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan publicly offered his and the Nation of Islam’s “deepest condolences” to the Shabazz family and his statement can be found on YouTube.com. “I want to say to Black America, the same FBI that hatched the plot to divide Bro. Malcolm from his teacher—that same FBI that worked to destroy Black organizations and Black leadership—was dogging the footsteps of this young potential giant,” said Min. Farrakhan.

Mr. Shabazz had written on his blog, www.malcolmshabazz.blogspot.com, “In the beginning of 2012 I had been informed that I was under investigation by the FBI’s Counter Terrorism Task Force Unit located in Goshen, NY.” Agents visited homes of longtime friends and very close supporters, he said. “Yet, when federal agents begin knocking on someone’s door or multiple occasions to snoop and ask questions, whether one is guilty of an offense or not, it’s enough to coerce people into distancing themselves from you,” Mr. Shabazz said.

Agents also visited locations in California, Chicago, Miami and “most aggressively” in New York, he added.

Mr. Shabazz is the son of Qubilah Shabazz, the second oldest daughter of Malcolm X and Dr. Shabazz. In an e-mail response an aunt of the victim told The Final Call, “Yes a proper investigation is needed.” The family overall, however, has essentially been silent. The police attack against hunger strikers can also be found on YouTube.com.

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