Malcolm X checked into Room 1129. Said Bradley, "As we entered the lobby, six men came in
right after us. I recognized them as Black Muslims." When Malcolm X returned downstairs to the
lobby, he "practically bumped into the Muslim entourage. The Muslims were stunned. Malcolm's
face froze, but he never broke his gait. Then, we knew we were facing trouble." Malcolm X's
friends drove him to pick up "two former secretaries of Elijah Muhammad, who (had) filed
paternity suits against him," and they went to the office of the colorful Los Angeles attorney
Gladys Root. Mrs. Root said that Malcolm X made accusations about Elijah Muhammad's
conduct with various former secretaries.
After dinner, Malcolm X's two friends drove him back to the hotel. "Black Muslims were all over
the place," Bradley related. "Some were in cars and others stood around near the hotel. They had
the hotel completely surrounded. Malcolm sized up the situation and jumped out of the car. He
warned me to watch out and ran into the lobby. He went to his room and remained there for the
rest of his stay in Los Angeles."
The car in which Malcolm X left the hotel, bound for the airport, was followed, said Bradley.
"Hardly had we got on the Freeway when we saw two carloads of Black Muslims following us.
The cars started to pull alongside. Malcolm picked up my walking cane and stuck it out of a back
window as if itwere a rifle. The two cars fell behind. We picked up speed, pulled off the airport
ramp, and roared up to the front of the terminal. The police were waiting and Malcolm was
escorted to the plane through an underground passageway. Then I saw Malcolm to the plane."
Chicago police were waiting when the plane landed at O'Hare Airport that night at eight o'clock.
Driven to the Bristol Hotel, Malcolm X checked in, and the adjoining suite was taken by members
of the police force who would keep him under steady guard for the next three days in Chicago.
Malcolm X testified at the office of the Attorney General of the State of Illinois which had been
investigating the Nation of Islam. Another day he appeared on the television program of Irv
Kupcinet; he described attempts that had been made to kill him. He said he had on his desk a
letter naming the persons assigned to kill him. When police returned Malcolm X to his hotel "at
least 15 grim-faced Negroes (were) loitering nearby." Whispered Malcolm X to Detective
Sergeant Edward McClellan, "Those are all Black Muslims. At least two of them I recognize as
being from New York. Elijah seems to know every move I make." Later, in his room, he told the
detective, "It's only going to be a matter of time before they catch up with me. I know too much
about the Muslims. But their threats are not going to stop me from what I am determined to do."
After that night spent in the hotel, Malcolm X was police-escorted back to O'Hare where he
caught a plane to New York City's Kennedy Airport.
Right away, he was served with a court order of eviction from the Elmhurst home. He telephoned
me upstate. His voice was strained. He told me that he had filed an appeal to the court order, that
on the next day he was going to Alabama, and thence to England and France for scheduled
speeches, and soon after returning he would go to Jackson, Mississippi, to address the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, on February 19. Then he said-the first time he had ever
voiced to me such an admission-"Haley, my nerves are shot, my brain's tired." He said that upon
his return from Mississippi, he would like to comeand spend two or three days in the town where I
was, and read the book's manuscript again. "You say it's a quiet town. Just a couple of days of
peace and quiet, that's what I need." I said that he knew he was welcome, but there was no need
for him to tax himself reading through the long book again, as it had only a few very minor editing
changes since he had only recently read it. "I just want to read it one more time," he said,
"because
I don't expect to read it in finished form." So we made a tentative agreement that the day after his
projected return from Mississippi, he would fly upstate to visit for a weekend with me. The
projected date was the Saturday and Sunday of February 20-21.
Jet magazine reported Malcolm X's trip to Selma, Alabama, on the invitation of two members of
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Dr. Martin Luther King was in a Selma jail when