Islamic groups moving forward on their own probe of FBI incident here

The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says it will conduct its own forensic investigation into the Oct. 28 shooting death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah during an FBI raid on a Dearborn warehouse.

The Dearborn Police Department is also investigating the shooting. Their inquiry was supposed to wrap up this month, but recent reports indicate it could take another two or three weeks.

Calls to the department seeking information about the current status of the investigation were not returned by the Press & Guide’s deadline.

The FBI says agents were trying to arrest Abdullah in a sting operation involving stolen goods when he resisted and fired a gun. An autopsy report released last month said he was shot 21 times.

“On the surface, someone being shot 21 times raises quite a few questions,” said U.S. Rep John Conyers (D-Detroit).

Conyers had previously sought an independent investigation into the shooting, and recently joined the 14th Congressional Democratic Party, CAIR-MI and the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners in calling for “objective scrutiny into the protocols and conduct of the multi-jurisdictional law enforcement task force on the day of the cleric’s death.”

Other advocates and community members have also voiced concerns regarding the alleged lack of transparency in the case regarding unshared information requested through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and results of the investigation by the Dearborn Police Department.

“The community concern (over the imam’s death) is escalating. It’s not decreasing,” said Dawud Walid, the executive director of CAIR-MI “I don’t just mean the Muslim community. I mean communities of various faiths.”

Community leaders and activists have raised serious questions about whether federal agents acted improperly, even criminally, during the Oct. 28 raid in Dearborn. They have called for transparency during the course of the investigation.

“Until there is complete transparency regarding the events surrounding Abdullah’s death, community concerns will remain unsatisfied,” Walid said.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has also launched an investigation into the fatal shooting, which the FBI says is standard practice. A report containing the DOJ’s findings was supposed to be turned over to the Dearborn Police Department earlier this month.

The report is expected to shed new light on allegations of excessive force made by Abdullah’s supporters, who say the slain imam was gunned down during a federal raid at a Dearborn warehouse last fall and left to die on the floor of a semi-trailer full of flat-screen TVs with his wrists handcuffed behind his back.

An autopsy released Feb. 1 found Abdullah was shot 21 times — twice in the chest, four times in the abdomen, twice in the groin, four times in the left hip and side, seven times in the left thigh, once in the scrotum and once in the back.

The autopsy didn’t detail the types or sizes of bullets removed from Abdullah’s body. The report documents the recovery of another bullet fragment and numerous small metallic fragments recovered from the pelvis. There were no gunpowder burns on the body, indicating the fatal shots weren’t fired from point blank range.

Although Abdullah was not shot in the head, he suffered cuts and abrasions on his face. Several lacerations were also found on his hands, although Wayne County Medical Examiner Carl Schmidt said he could not confirm whether the wounds were caused by the FBI dog he allegedly killed.

“There was no distinct pattern left as when you have a good imprint of a dog, that doesn’t mean that some of his lacerations could not have been do to a dog,” Schmidt said.

The autopsy concluded that the cause of Abdullah’s death was multiple gunshot wounds.

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