National Lawyers Guild calls for “immediate and independent investigation” into the killing of Imam Luqman Abdullah by the FBI.
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).
Note: The headline of the press release on the NLG website refers to the killing as an “assasination,” this language is not used in the actual body of the press release. Junaid Afeef, who continues to push for Muslim organizations to push harder for an investigation, thinks the use of this language in the headline was probably a ‘publicity tactic’ but thinks it would be better to avoid such language which presumes the outcome of the investigation and to focus on gathering a broader coalition to demand the investigation.
Michael John Gamache 11:13 pm on November 3, 2009 Permalink |
I think this is great. Its a MUST for the State to make a case against a Terrorist. (Of course I agree) Yet the man who killed his OWN DAUGHTER for being “to westernized” (a little subjective) is hardly a note.
I disagree with this prioritization of values. First we address the silly men from the old world and their archaic need for ‘honor’ killing. THEN we worry about the State, killing men whom they had a case against.