Photo: Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, shot dead by the FBI.
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"Islamic leader's family urges investigation into his death:
"He was shot 18 times, they say"
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO, BEN SCHMITT AND ROBIN ERB
"DETROIT FREE PRESS" (Detroit, Michigan)
October 31, 2009
On the Web at:
http://www.freep.com/article/20091031/NEWS02/910310367/1318/Islamic-leaders-family-urges-investigation-into-his-death
"...Omar Regan, 34, one of Abdullah's sons, said his family was told by authorities that after he was shot 18 times, Abdullah was handcuffed and placed on a stretcher. He complained that the FBI airlifted a police dog that had been shot while no medical helicopter was brought in for his father."
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"Government should heed calls to investigatge Abdullah's death"
"DETROIT FREE PRESS"
October 31, 2009; 4:56 PM
Editorial by Jeff Gerritt
On the Web at:
http://www.freep.com/article/20091031/BLOG2505/91031023/1068/OPINION/Government-should-heed-calls-to-investigatge-Abdullahs-death
"More than 1,000 mourners this morning attended the funeral of Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the Islamic leader killed by FBI agents this week during a shootout in Dearborn. This was a solemn, sacred and beautiful religious ceremony, not a political rally. But imams did call for an independent investigation into Abdullah’s death. It’s a call the government should heed to clear questions harbored by Muslims around the world, as well as by many Detroiters, Muslim and non-Muslim.
"Such calls will grow. The Dearborn Police Department is investigating the shooting now, but Abdullah’s killing has blown up beyond metro Detroit. It could threaten relations between the government and Muslim Americans, and even between the U.S. and Muslim nations -- relations that President Obama has cultivated. Enough is at stake for a national body to investigate whether agents properly targeted Abdullah, or could have avoided killing him. Whether that body is the Justice Department or Congress, or some other outside agency, it must have credibility with all parties.
"As I wrote Friday, no one should assume government wrongdoing or impropriety — nor has anyone I’ve talked to in Detroit. Still, there is growing skepticism about what happened during the Wednesday raid, and how the government uses informants to infiltrate Muslim groups. The account now widely held in the community is that Abdullah was shot repeatedly by agents, after he shot an unleashed police dog, despite official reports that Abdullah fired on agents. Because Abdullah was both African American and Muslim, his death has racial and religious overtones, especially among a people who have faced excessive police force throughout their history.
"The government described him as a dangerous Islamic fundamentalist who advocated violence and Muslim rule, urging attacks on police and the U.S. government. But to others, he was a beloved brother, a righteous Muslim and modest man who helped uplift and sustain the poor in his neighborhood.
"African American Muslims who knew him told me he took in the homeless and fed the hungry, despite having little himself. As mourners — mostly African Americans but also Muslims with Middle Eastern roots and a few whites — filed out of the packed and steamy Detroit mosque, they gathered their shoes and addressed one another as brother and sister.
"The FBI says agents acted appropriately, but Muslim organizations will continue to press for an independent investigation next week. As questions linger, it’s time to get some official, and independent, answers."
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"Prayers and Criticism in Wake of Detroit Imam’s Killing by F.B.I."
by SUSAN SAULNY,
NEW YORK TIMES
October 30, 2009
On the Web at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/us/31dearborn.html
"...The Muslim Alliance in North America, a national network based in Lexington, Ky., expressed shock at the killing of Mr. Abdullah, who served on its governing body.
" 'Reference to the Ummah as a "nationwide radical fundamentalist Sunni group consisting primarily of African-Americans" is an offensive mischaracterization,' the group said in a statement.
" 'To those who have worked with Imam Luqman A. Abdullah,' it continued, 'allegations of illegal activity, resisting arrest, and "offensive jihad against the American government" are shocking and inconsistent. In his ministry he consistently advocated for the downtrodden and always spoke about the importance of connecting with the needs of the poor.'
"A funeral for Mr. Abdullah is scheduled for Saturday at the Muslim Center in Detroit."
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