Two of three men convicted in the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X were exonerated by a Manhattan judge Thursday. The Manhattan district attorney and lawyers for the two men moved to vacate the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam in the 1965 killing, and a New York State Supreme Court tossed out the verdicts. Aziz and Islam – then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15 Johnson – were convicted in 1966 and spent about two decades in prison, all the while maintaining their innocence. Aziz was released in 1985. Islam was released two years later and died in 2009. "I am an 83-year-old man who was victimized by the criminal justice system, and I do not know how many more years I have to be creative," Aziz said in a statement through his lawyers. "However, I hope the same system that was responsible for this travesty of justice also take responsibility for the immeasurable harm it caused me." Two of three men convicted in the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X were exonerated by a Manhattan judge Thursday. The Manhattan district attorney and lawyers for the two men moved to vacate the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam in the 1965 killing, and a New York State Supreme Court tossed out the verdicts. Aziz and Islam – then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15 Johnson – were convicted in 1966 and spent about two decades in prison, all the while maintaining their innocence. Aziz was released in 1985. Islam was released two years later and died in 2009. "I am an 83-year-old man who was victimized by the criminal justice system, and I do not know how many more years I have to be creative," Aziz said in a statement through his lawyers. "However, I hope the same system that was responsible for this travesty of justice also take responsibility for the immeasurable harm it caused me."