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Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz), was reportedly arrested by the FBI today. The son of the late Civil Rights activist’s second daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, was en route to Iran when he was taken into custody. 

Iran’s television network, Press TV, reports:

Muslim civil activist Malcolm Shabazz was reportedly arrested before starting his scheduled visit to Tehran to attend a conference on Hollywoodism, sources outside the United States confirmed on Monday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has refused to provide any information about his whereabouts.

Tehran hosted the third Hollywoodism International Conference, on the sidelines of the 31st Fajr International Film Festival in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday.

Many filmmakers, directors, actors, and movie critics as well as politicians and economists took part in the conference.

In 1997, it was Malcolm Shabazz who infamously started the fire in the home of his grandmother, Betty Shabazz, that caused her death. He was just 12-years-old at the time of the incident and was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile facility after pleading guilty to manslaughter and arson. However, he would be in and out of jail (he was arrested for robbery and burglary in 2002) until his parole in 2006. Since his release, he has become and activist.

Coincidentally, a film called Betty And Coretta starring Angela Bassett and Mary J. Blige as Coretta Scott King (wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.) and Betty Shabazz, respectively, aired this past weekend on the Lifetime network.

February 21 will be the 48th anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination. There is currently now word on why Malcolm Shabazz was arrested or what crimes he was charged with committing.

Photo: Press TV