Detroit Imam Shot 21 Times by FBI
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR: Autopsy Shows Mich. Imam Shot 21 Times, Handcuffed
Muslim civil rights group repeats call for independent probe of FBI shooting
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/30/10) The Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today
reiterated its call for an independent
investigation into the death of a Michigan imam,
or Islamic religious leader, who a leaked autopsy
report has revealed was shot 21 times and then
handcuffed during an October FBI raid in Detroit.
Video:
Details of Slain Imam's Autopsy (Fox)
CAIR, other civil liberties groups and Rep. John
Conyers (D-MI), who is chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee, have all called for an
investigation into the death of Imam Luqman Ameen
Abdullah. Earlier this month, Conyers sent a
letter to Attorney General Eric Holder to ask the
Justice Department's civil rights division to
investigate both the October shooting and whether
the FBI violated the Constitution by using
informants in mosques. A report detailing the
imam's autopsy is scheduled for official release on Monday.
SEE:
in Imam Shooting to be Released Monday (Detroit News)
Conyers:
FBI Case on Imam (Detroit Free Press)
"The shocking details of the imam's autopsy raise
a number of disturbing questions that need to be
answered," said Dawud Walid, executive director
of CAIR's Michigan chapter. "First of all, did
the FBI agents follow established procedure when
they shot the imam 21 times? How was the imam
shot in the back? Was it proper procedure to
handcuff either a dead body or a mortally-wounded
suspect? If the agents found the imam alive
following the shooting, did they call for medical
assistance? All these questions need answers."
CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties
and advocacy organization. Its mission is to
enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage
dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower
American Muslims, and build coalitions that
promote justice and mutual understanding.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid,
248-842-1418, 248-559-2247, E-Mail:
dwalid@cair.com; CAIR National Communications
Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or
202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR
Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin,
202-488-8787 or 202-341-4171, E-Mail:
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Autopsy: Detroit Imam Shot 20 Times at FBI Raid
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/autopsy-says-michigan-imam-suffered-21-gunshot-wounds?obref=obinsite
Updated: Monday, 01 Feb 2010, 9:53 PM EST
Published : Monday, 01 Feb 2010, 12:29 PM EST
By ED WHITE
Associated Press Writer
DETROIT (AP) -- A Muslim prayer leader accused of
encouraging his followers to commit violence
against the U.S. government was shot 20 times
during an FBI raid at a suburban warehouse last
fall, according to an autopsy report released Monday.
The autopsy was completed a month after Luqman
Ameen Abdullah's death, but Dearborn police were
granted a delay in releasing the results while
they investigate the Oct. 28 shooting, said Dr.
Carl Schmidt, Wayne County's chief medical examiner.
Abdullah, 53, died instantly, he said. The FBI
says agents were trying to arrest Abdullah at a
Dearborn warehouse when he resisted and fired a gun.
Schmidt said Abdullah's body was handcuffed and
on the floor of a semitrailer when his
investigator arrived at the shooting scene.
"You cannot tell by the gunshot wounds whether he
was lying down, standing up, sitting" when he was
shot, Schmidt told reporters. "It is impossible
to say which one was the fatal gunshot wound. It
was a combination of gunshot wounds."
FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said anyone
subject to an arrest warrant is handcuffed "no
matter what the circumstances" for the safety of agents and the public.
Abdullah, also known as Christopher Thomas, was
the imam of a small mosque in Detroit that served
mostly black Muslims. At the time, he and 11
allies were being pursued for federal crimes,
chiefly conspiracy to sell stolen goods in an FBI sting operation.
The FBI says Abdullah was spreading a radical
anti-government ideology that called for an
Islamic state within the U.S. His family denies
it. There were no terror-related charges.
Dearborn police still are investigating
Abdullah's death. Earlier Monday, Chief Ron
Haddad said it will take several more weeks
before detectives finish their work and share
their findings with the Michigan attorney general's office.
"I'm not going to engage in opinions on the use
of force," Haddad said when asked if agents fired
too many times. "Whether it clears them, whether
they're prosecuted, it'll be up to the next level."
He promised a "clear, honest and objective evaluation."
The shooting also is being examined by the FBI's
Inspection Division, which will send results to
the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division,
said Berchtold, who called it a standard procedure.
"This is one piece of information from that day,"
she said of the 20 shots. "We'd like to ask
people to wait for all the facts to come out to
determine an overall reaction. The events that
actually occurred in the warehouse have not been publicized."
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee,
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and the Michigan
chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations want a separate investigation. Outside
the Dearborn Police Department, a small group of
protesters stood near a sign that said, "Stop FBI Terror!"
A lawyer for Abdullah's family, Nabih Ayad, questioned the FBI's tactics.
"A lot of raids are conducted when a suspect has
a gun. That doesn't mean you shoot them 20 times," Ayad said in an interview.
Schmidt said the 20 shots caused 21 wounds,
mostly on the left side of Abdullah's body, from the abdomen down.
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