The two men convicted of assassinating civil rights leader Malcolm X in 1965 are expected to be exonerated on Thursday, their lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney told The New York Times Wednesday. 

According to the Times' report, Muhammad Aziz, 83, and the late Khalil Islam, who spent decades in prison for the crime, were being exonerated after a nearly two-year investigation by their lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney's office.

In an interview with the Times, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. apologized on behalf of those who convicted the two Black Muslim men, and admitted that key missteps occurred during the 1966 trial. 

'This points to the truth that law enforcement over history has often failed to live up to its responsibilities,' Vance Jr. said. 

'These men did not get the justice that they deserved.'