National Lawyers Guild (NLG) calls for an immediate investigation into fbi's fatal shooting of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) calls for an immediate and
independent investigation into fbi's fatal shooting on 10/28/09 islamic
leader imam luqman ameen abdullah in dearborn,miFor Immediate Release--November 2, 2009

*Contact: *Paige Cram, Communications Coordinator, 212-679-5100, ext. 15,
communications@nlg.org

*New York*—The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) calls for an immediate and
independent investigation into the FBI’s fatal shooting on October 28 of
Islamic leader Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah in Dearborn, Michigan. The FBI
killed him during a series of raids of the Masjid Al-Haqq Mosque by federal
and local law enforcement officials in which 11 others were arrested. While
mainstream media outlets are calling the killing and arrests a
counter-terrorism operation, the raids arose out of criminal complaints
containing no specific allegations of violations of federal law or acts of
terrorism.

All reports from local residents and community leaders indicate that Imam
Abdullah and Mosque members were dedicated to improving the community,
feeding hungry neighborhood residents and helping young people in need, even
letting many sleep in the mosque during inclement weather.

By publicizing the killing and arrests as related to terrorism, absent any
such allegations in the complaint, the FBI seems to be engaging in the same
tactics used in its Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), in which it
spied on, infiltrated and disrupted political movements. Imam Abdullah had a
close relationship with Imam Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, formerly known as H.
Rap Brown, was a field organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC) and later served as national chairman of the Black Panther
Party (BPP).

The FBI and mainstream media blamed the organizing work of SNCC for the
urban rebellions in over 200 cities in the late 1960s. The Black Panther
Party was COINTELPRO’s primary target, but it targeted a vast array of
others, including Martin Luther King. In light of these events, we cannot
trust the claim that COINTELPRO has been abandoned. Many have been
imprisoned on spurious charges. Al-Amin, for example, maintains his innocence

in the deaths of Atlanta law-enforcement officers and has sought an appeal
of his case. Reports indicated that he has been harassed and placed in
isolation in the Georgia prison system. Over two dozen BPP members were
killed by law enforcement between 1968 and 1971.

The National Lawyers Guild advocated on behalf of, and represented, members
of the BPP and other political organizations. The FBI tried to have the
Guild labeled as a subversive organization, and for many years spied on and
infiltrated the association and its individual members.

Guild president David Gespass said, “It took more than twenty years to prove
in court that Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were targeted and murdered by the
FBI and Chicago police. We cannot wait that long for the truth of what
happened to Imam Abdullah.”

The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 and is the oldest and largest
public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its
headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.

###
--
Paige Cram
NLG Communications Coordinator
communications@nlg..org
(212) 679-5100, ext. 15