People often describe me as troubled. I’m not going to say that I’m not. But I’m not crazy. I have troubles. A lot of us do. But you need to understand where I’m coming from and why I am the way I am. Considering what I’ve been through, it’s a miracle that I’ve been able to hold it together. I’m just trying to find my way. [I’ve read newspaper stories about me that] say, “Experts testify [that boy] is psychotic.” The way they describe me is wrong–bi-polar, depression, pyro, whatever. I know I’m not at all. Some of the things I’ve been through, the average person would have cracked.
–Excerpt on July 12, 2012, from “News One speaks with Malcolm Shabazz” by Aliya S. King
Malcolm Shabazz’s intentions in going to Mexico, where his life was snuffed out last Thursday not far from the poverty-ridden Tepito area near Mexico City, were to help his friend, Miguel Suarez, by lending his well-known family name in an attempt to overturn Suarez’s deportation. Although the 28-year-old grandson of Malcolm X gave some the appearance of constantly battling himself within, it wasn’t unusual for him to travel and attempt to assist an individual.
At the least, this is the impression one might get after researching hundreds of blogs generated within the United States, Africa and the Middle East.
Suarez’s mother and Shabazz, according to the Associated Press, traveled together through San Diego to Mexico, crossing the Tijuana border, and once in Mexico traveled to Mexico City by road. It isn’t clear whether their travel was by bus or car.
Shabazz evetually connected with Suarez.
According to Prosecutor Rodolfo Fernando Rios, while walking down the streets of Tepito, Shabazz and Suarez, encountered two women, one of whom spoke English, and who lured the two men to the Palace Club Bar. Mexican newspapers have identified the bar as a known brothel.
According to Mexican news reports, it is not uncommon for bars in Tepito to charge customers for even a conversation with the female employees.
Shabazz reportedly consumed several drinks, resulting in a blood alcohol level of more than three times the legal limit for operating a vehicle in the United States. But the prosecutor, while not offering details on how much liquor was consumed, said the bill was excessive and was part of an effort to rob Shabazz and his companion. The pair disputed a tab that amounted to about $1,200. According to the Associated Press, many of the bars in the area are notorious for exorbitant overcharging of customers, particularly foreigners, often on the pretext that customers must pay for time spent talking with the females.
According to Associated Press, Suarez said a “short dude came with a gun and took him to a separate room.” Suarez said he heard a violent commotion in the hall–more than likely Shabazz being assaulted–and escaped from the room and the bar observing half-naked girls running away as he fled, picking up their skirts from the dance floor,”
He said he found Shabazz outside the bar and took him to a hospital where he died.
Rios said he did not know why the friend was spared, but noted that they were separated in different rooms during the attack.
However, another report said, “Minutes later, Suarez came back in a cab to look for Shabazz and found him on the ground outside the bar severely injured. He was in shock. His face was messed up,” Suarez was quoted as telling the Associated Press. “He was alive. I grabbed him, and I called the cops.” Shabazz was then taken to a hospital where he died hours later of blunt-force injuries from a bat or stick and excessive punching and kicking, according to Suarez’s account to the Associated Press.
Two waiters at a Tepito bar will face homicide and robbery charges in the beating death of Shabazz, authorities said Monday. Prosecutors said police were seeking at least two other people believed to have participated in the attack on Shabazz.
Prosecutor Rios said bar employees David Hernandez Cruz and Manuel Alejandro Perez de Jesus would be charged with aggravated robbery and homicide. Rios said there was no indication of a racial motivation in the attack on Shabazz, and there was no indication that the attackers knew Shabazz was related to Malcolm X. In a report to the European Press Agency, the prosecutor’s office said two days after the attack, “video recording equipment was missing and the cameras were turned to the walls.” But a Huffington Post Black Voices report also quotes Rios as saying, “employees ripped out all security cameras inside the bar and immediately closed it.”
Bob Guzman, a San Diego resident and owner of the El Tepeyac Travel Agency, said the Palace Club isn’t located in Mariachi Plaza, but about two miles northeast in the city of Tepito, and for decades has been associated with crime. It is famously known as the “Barrio Bravo” or fierce neighborhood. Crimes committed in Tepito can range from piracy to counterfeiting, but it is more infamous for robbery, a common occurrence in Tepito. Vendors feel that robbery has scared away decent customers.
“Eugene X, a Los Angeles native, who says he met Shabazz two years ago (July 2011) at the 7th annual Muslim Congress Conference in Kansas City, Mo., said, “We became very close and he would mesmerize me with his powerful message of peace and happiness for all men and how he was going to help bring about change. He definitely wanted to make a difference and give back. He was a very charitable person.”
Medo Jahi, another friend of Shabazz, left a message on The Muslim Congress of North America blog, saying: “He felt he was under the scrutiny of intelligence organizations of the United States government as a result of his visits to the Middle East, and that is why you have a lot of conspiracy theories being
A Feb. 18, 2013, New York Post article says the Iranian government defines the term “Hollywoodism” as a hidden agenda behind major American movies–an ideology that American and Jewish filmmakers create movie plots to make Muslims and African Americans look dumb.
“Brother Shabazz often shared his concerns (about) being assassinated by the government,” said Jahi. “Just three months ago he posted the ‘Formula for Public Assassination’ on his website.” The following is what it says:
“The formula for a public assassination is: the character assassination before the physical assassination; so one has to be made killable before the eyes of the public in order for their eventual murder to then be deemed justifiable. And when the time arrives for these hits to be carried out, you’re not going to see a CIA agent with a suit and tie, and a badge that says ‘CIA’ walk up to someone, and pull the trigger.
What they will do is out-source to local police departments in the region of their target, and employ those that look like the target of interest to infiltrate the workings in order to set up the environment for the eventual assassination (character, physical/incarceration, exile) to take place.
“Just think, you have a person who the government probably feels is unstable, based on the incident that occurred when he was 12; also based on the attitude his grandfather had towards the United States and the influence he (Malcolm Shabazz) was gaining in the Middle East with unfriendly governments; a perfect recipe for an African American terrorist in the eyes of our government,” said Jahi.
Jahi also believes what he says is true based on past performance of our government’s agencies. “. . . at times I wonder if it was a murder based on a bar tab,” he said.
Mexican law enforcement agencies, both federal and local, feel strongly that Malcom Shabazz died as a result of a robbery.
