The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the FBI may be looking into the shooting death by the FBI of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah. Abdullah was shot dead in a warehouse last Wednesday (10/28) when the FBI attempted to arrest him and several others pursuant to an arrest warrant in Detroit/Dearborn area. The facts surrounding the shooting are in dispute.
The Wayne County News is reporting that
The FBI said Monday that it has dispatched a Shooting Incident Review Team to Detroit to investigate the incident, which is done when agents are involved in a shooting.
Interestingly, the Detroit Free Press is now beginning to report the shooting a bit differently. As you may recall, initially the media reported the FBI version of events - that Abdullah was shot after firing on the FBI special agents. Here's how the Detroit Free Press described the shooting in today's story:
Abdullah was shot dead by FBI agents on Wednesday during a raid on a warehouse in Dearborn after he allegedly fired at a police dog, killing it.
This is what family and friends of Abdullah contended as early as Friday of last week. In case you do not see the distinction I will spell it out - the FBI is alleged to have shot Abdullah in response to his shooting the dog and not for firing on the agents themselves.
It is good that the "Shooting Incident Review Team" from the FBI is looking into the shooting. I do not know much about the protocols employed by this review team and whether this part of the FBI is able to exercise enough autonomy in its investigation to be able to render a critical assessment if it turns out that mistakes were made by the special agents who shot and killed Abdullah.
At this juncture I am a bit skeptical of the impartiality of this review team. I'm not saying they cannot be fair. I will wait and see, but in the mean time, I think it is important for there to be a push for an independent investigation.
It has been a full week since the shooting and as of this evening the major local Muslim organization, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, has still been silent vis-a-vis the shooting. This is not right.
Perhaps the community should look to CAIR-Chicago to take a leadership role in organizing and mobilizing the community over this issue. I do think the job falls squarely within the responsibilities of CIOGC but if it is unwilling or unable to discharge this obligation then someone else needs to step up.
According to Dawud Walid's personal blog (Dawud is the Executive Director of CAIR-Michigan), there will be a community town hall meeting this Friday to discuss the shooting and to educate the public about their rights and to learn some of the history behind the FBI and its domestic spying (i.e., COINTELPRO). This is important because there is a dearth of knowledge among American Muslims even still about the sordid history of the FBI vis-a-vis civil rights organizations and other counter-culture movements.
Stay tuned for more as it comes in...
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