For a period he also went by the name Talmadge X Hayer,[1] and his chosen Islamic name is Mujahid Abdul Halim (Arabic: مجاهد عبد الحليم).

He later confessed to the crime but said that Thomas Johnson (Khalil Islam) and Norman 3X Butler (Muhammad Abdul Aziz), two suspects arrested at a later point in time, were not involved in the assassination.

[1] Hagan stated in a 1977 affidavit that he had planned the shooting with four others (Johnson and Butler not being among them) to seek revenge for Malcolm X's public criticism of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam.

Among other places, he worked at the Crown Heights Youth Collective, as a counselor at a homeless shelter on Wards Island, and in a fast-food restaurant.

[1][2] In 2021, Hagan expressed support that the convictions of Thomas Johnson and Norman 3X Butler were overturned, matching his original claims that they were not involved in the murder of Malcolm X.