2 men convicted in 1966 for Malcolm X's assassination to be exonerated

Two men who were convicted of killing of Malcolm X decades ago are set to be exonerated following a nearly two-year investigation.

Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, who in 1966 were found guilty in the assassination of the civil rights leader, will have their convictions tossed out on Thursday, The New York Times reported, citing lawyers for the men and Manhattan's district attorney. Aziz and Islam were released in 1985 and 1987, respectively, and Islam died in 2009.

The move comes following a 22-month investigation into their convictions. According to the Times, this investigation found that prosecutors, the FBI, and the NYPD "withheld key evidence that, had it been turned over, would likely have led to the men's acquittal." Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. in an interview with the Times apologized over the convictions.

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"This points to the truth that law enforcement over history has often failed to live up to its responsibilities," Vance said. "These men did not get the justice that they deserved."

An investigation into the convictions was re-opened after the release of a Netflix documentary raising new questions about the case, The Washington Post notes. Among the new information uncovered during the investigation included an interview with a witness who backed up Aziz's alibi, according to the Times. Additionally, the Times reports that "a trove of FBI documents included information that implicated other suspects and pointed away from" Islam and Aziz.

A lawyer for Aziz and Islam told the Times, "This wasn't a mere oversight. This was a product of extreme and gross official misconduct." Read more at The New York Times.