Queens senator proposes more Civil Rights-era cold case investigations

State Sen. James Sanders Jr. has sponsored two bills that would devote more resources to Civil Rights-era cold cases. Photo via New York State Senate.

By Rachel Vick

As investigators reopen the murder case of iconic civil rights leader Malcolm X, a Southeast Queens state senator is working to ensure other victims of Civil Rights-era hate crimes get a fair re-examination of their cold cases, as well.

State Sen. James Sanders introduced two bills that would devote more resources to Civil Rights-era cold case on Friday at a Harlem event honoring Malcolm X, who was assassinated while speaking before an audience at Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965. 

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office reopened an investigation into the unsolved murder after the release of a Netflix documentary ‘Who Killed Malcolm X.” Malcolm lived in East Elmhurst at the time of his murder and his death is widely believed to be linked to the Nation of Islam. 

Sanders’ first bill, the New York Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act, would require the collection of civil rights cold cases and the creation of a review board to analyze the cases.

The second bill, known as the Malcolm X Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2020 would compel the New York Attorney General to compile an annual study of unsolved Civil Rights-era murder cases and provide funding for law enforcement officers to pursue investigations into relevant cases. Both bills apply to all cases opened before 1980.

“No matter how many decades have passed since the death of Malcolm X, those responsible must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Sanders said. “Justice must be served.”