SHABAZZ ATTORNEY BLAMES GOVERNMENT

The attorney for Qubilah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X who was charged yesterday with plotting to kill Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, says his client was lured into the scheme by a childhood friend. A source close to the family of Malcolm X told TIME senior correspondent Jack White that the friend is Michael Fitzpatrick, now reportedly living under the witness protection program in St. Paul after botching a bombing attempt in New York City in 1978. Fitzpatrick and Shabazz were high school pals who remained close over the years, the source told White. At a Chicago news conference, Nation of Islam lawyer Ava Muhammad blamed the feds for targeting Shabazz. "It would be easy for conspirators to entrap this troubled young woman," she said. Shabazz was four years old when she witnessed the gunning down of her father in a Harlem mosque.