[Ppnews] Family of slain Detroit cleric is 'hurt' by probe

Thu Oct 14 18:02:58 EDT 2010

Family of slain Detroit cleric is 'hurt' by probe

By JEFF KAROUB
The Associated Press
Thursday, October 14, 2010; 5:13 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/14/AR2010101405124.html

DETROIT -- The son of a Detroit mosque leader 
killed during a shootout with the FBI said 
Thursday he and his family are disappointed and 
hurt by a U.S. Justice Department report clearing agents of any wrongdoing.

Omar Regan said the federal review into the death 
last October of his father, Imam Luqman Ameen 
Abdullah, lacked sufficient evidence to prove his 
father's death was justified. He hoped the report 
released Wednesday would reveal violations by FBI 
agents during the raid in a Dearborn warehouse 
that included dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officers.

"We hurt - we really hurt, and we're disappointed 
in the Department of Justice," said Regan, who 
was joined at a news conference by Christian, 
Muslim and civil-rights leaders. "It's been 
nearly a year. I honestly had high hopes that 
they would honestly see injustice. It's clear to 
everybody on the ground level that it was not legitimate."

Abdullah's widow, Amina Abdullah, also attended 
but declined to speak on advice from her attorneys.

Regan and others at the meeting said there's no 
additional audio, video, ballistics or other 
evidence to support the FBI's claim that his 
father shot or even possessed a gun. Abdullah was 
shot 20 times when agents tried to arrest him on stolen-goods charges.

The report concludes that "the evidence indicates 
that each of the FBI agents who fired his weapon 
had a legitimate reason to believe that deadly 
force was necessary and reasonable in order to 
prevent Imam Abdullah from shooting agents with a 
handgun that he brandished and fired."

The report also concluded it was not unreasonable 
for other agents to release a dog to help subdue 
Abdullah as he resisted. And it said that the 
agents who handcuffed and searched him once he 
was subdued neither injured him nor used unreasonable force.

The assistant attorney general for civil rights, 
<http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Thomas_E._Perez>Thomas 
E. Perez, met with Abdullah's family in Detroit 
on Wednesday and later with representatives of 
interested local groups to explain the department's findings.

The agents were previously cleared by Michigan 
Attorney General Mike Cox, and a 300-page report 
from the Dearborn Police Department backed up that decision.

Lena Masri, attorney for the Council on 
American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter who 
also is representing Abdullah's family, said the 
federal report's findings are based on interviews 
with four agents who fired weapons and they were 
conducted seven months after the shooting. She 
said the report lacked statements from other 
agents and nongovernmental witnesses.

"They're asking us to accept the statements of four shooters," she said.

Masri said the family is reviewing reports and 
documents and seeking more information from 
various law enforcement agencies. It will 
consider filing a wrongful death lawsuit later.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the council's 
Michigan chapter, said his group and others 
continue to call for the Justice Department to 
review the FBI's use of informants in mosques. He 
said the government failed to probe the potential 
misuse of informants "acting as agent-provocateurs in this case."

Federal authorities have described Abdullah as 
the leader of a radical Sunni group that aims to 
create an Islamic state within the U.S. 
Authorities say Abdullah preached hate for the 
government and encouraged followers to commit 
violence, especially against police and federal 
agents. According to court records, Abdullah had 
even warned that "it will be straight-up war" if 
the government engaged with him.

Abdullah's family has denied that he was a radical cleric.

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