http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/yet-another-explanation-for-the-killing-of-ibragim-todashev/276421/
( The question isn't whether the FBI is lying , the question is why is the FBI lying ? )
Why was Ibragim Todashev, 27, killed as he was being questioned by the FBI in his Orlando apartment? Yesterday I pulled together numerous news reports documenting the contradictory explanations offered by law enforcement officials, many of them quoted on the condition of anonymity. Everyone seems to agree that Todashev had been questioned for at least several hours when an altercation took place. But early reports had him attacking an FBI agent with a knife or blade; at least one suggested he might have been reaching for a gun; others described him as unarmed; and still others suggested that he either wielded or lunged for a nearby samurai sword!
That brings us to a Thursday New York Times article that quotes "a senior law enforcement official briefed on the matter" who offers yet another version of what happened. Here are the details:
Finally, this account has a police detective who ostensibly sees the table overturned, sees the FBI agent get injured, sees Todashev attacking with a pole , sees the injured agent draw and fire his gun as he tries to get up, sees Todashev knocked back and rushing forward again... but never fires his own weapon.
Why?
All that said, seeming discrepancies are often explained as investigations wear on, and it's certainly plausible for a strong, physically fit man to seize a moment of inattention during an hours long interrogation, upturn a table, and grab a household object with which to attack his interrogators. Forensics experts can presumably shed light on whether the wounds on Todashev are consistent with being shot, while standing, by an FBI agent in a "while trying to stand up" position. It would be great if the various reporters who've gotten quotes from anonymous law enforcement officials went back to their sources and demanded an explanation. "Why did you tell me x when officials are now saying y happened?" There's also the matter of the alleged confession that, by this latest account, Todashev had already started to write.
I wonder if we'll ever get to see that.
A few thoughts in conclusion. It's important to bear in mind how little we know for sure at this point. It could be that the FBI agent and detective involved in the shooting acted honorably and responsibly. It's also possible that this man was needlessly and wrongfully killed. The need to resolve that uncertainty, insofar as it is possible, is why as independent an investigation as possible is needed. It also seems clear to me that the FBI should assign someone trustworthy to set forth what it knows to be true on the record, in order to reduce misinformation as much as possible.
A timeline of previous law enforcement explanations is here.
http://www.businessinsider.com/police-chechen-man-charged-fbi-agent-2013-5
( FBI Agent attacked with broomstick ? With at least 6 L.E present for this interview , why did the FBI Agent place himself , if you believe this latest version of the truth , alone with a suspect who allegedly had confessed to murder ? What did the Agent want to say to the victim or do to the victim without any witnesses present ? )
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/police-chechen-man-charged-fbi-agent-2013-5#ixzz2UsDBNqCJ
http://rt.com/news/todashev-head-shot-father-009/
and......
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/officials-man-who-knew-boston-bomber-was-unarmed-when-shot/2013/05/29/21f05b74-c8a8-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html?wpisrc=al_national
( The question isn't whether the FBI is lying , the question is why is the FBI lying ? )
Yet Another Explanation for the Killing of Ibragim Todashev
The latest law enforcement account has him charging an FBI agent with a pole -- or was it a broomstick? -- even after being shot.
More
Abdulbaki Todashev, the father of Ibragim Todashev, shows photographs of his son's body at a mortuary during a news conference in Moscow May 30, 2013. / Reuters
Why was Ibragim Todashev, 27, killed as he was being questioned by the FBI in his Orlando apartment? Yesterday I pulled together numerous news reports documenting the contradictory explanations offered by law enforcement officials, many of them quoted on the condition of anonymity. Everyone seems to agree that Todashev had been questioned for at least several hours when an altercation took place. But early reports had him attacking an FBI agent with a knife or blade; at least one suggested he might have been reaching for a gun; others described him as unarmed; and still others suggested that he either wielded or lunged for a nearby samurai sword!
That brings us to a Thursday New York Times article that quotes "a senior law enforcement official briefed on the matter" who offers yet another version of what happened. Here are the details:
- "The shooting occurred after an F.B.I. agent from Boston and two detectives from the Massachusetts State Police had been interviewing Mr. Todashev for several hours about his possible involvement in a triple homicide in Waltham, Mass., in 2011, according to the law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing."
- "Mr. Todashev, according to the F.B.I., confessed to his involvement in the deaths and implicated Mr. Tsarnaev. He then started to write a statement admitting his involvement while sitting at a table across from the agent and one of the detectives when the agent briefly looked away."
- "At that moment, Mr. Todashev picked up the table and threw it at the agent, knocking him to the ground."
- "While trying to stand up, the agent, who suffered a wound to his face from the table that required stitches, drew his gun and saw Mr. Todashev running at him with a metal pole, according to the official, adding that it might have been a broomstick."
- "The agent fired several shots at Mr. Todashev, striking him and knocking him backward. But Mr. Todashev again charged at the agent. The agent fired several more shots at Mr. Todashev, killing him."
- "The detective in the room did not fire his weapon, the official said."
Finally, this account has a police detective who ostensibly sees the table overturned, sees the FBI agent get injured, sees Todashev attacking with a pole , sees the injured agent draw and fire his gun as he tries to get up, sees Todashev knocked back and rushing forward again... but never fires his own weapon.
Why?
All that said, seeming discrepancies are often explained as investigations wear on, and it's certainly plausible for a strong, physically fit man to seize a moment of inattention during an hours long interrogation, upturn a table, and grab a household object with which to attack his interrogators. Forensics experts can presumably shed light on whether the wounds on Todashev are consistent with being shot, while standing, by an FBI agent in a "while trying to stand up" position. It would be great if the various reporters who've gotten quotes from anonymous law enforcement officials went back to their sources and demanded an explanation. "Why did you tell me x when officials are now saying y happened?" There's also the matter of the alleged confession that, by this latest account, Todashev had already started to write.
I wonder if we'll ever get to see that.
A few thoughts in conclusion. It's important to bear in mind how little we know for sure at this point. It could be that the FBI agent and detective involved in the shooting acted honorably and responsibly. It's also possible that this man was needlessly and wrongfully killed. The need to resolve that uncertainty, insofar as it is possible, is why as independent an investigation as possible is needed. It also seems clear to me that the FBI should assign someone trustworthy to set forth what it knows to be true on the record, in order to reduce misinformation as much as possible.
A timeline of previous law enforcement explanations is here.
http://www.businessinsider.com/police-chechen-man-charged-fbi-agent-2013-5
( FBI Agent attacked with broomstick ? With at least 6 L.E present for this interview , why did the FBI Agent place himself , if you believe this latest version of the truth , alone with a suspect who allegedly had confessed to murder ? What did the Agent want to say to the victim or do to the victim without any witnesses present ? )
Police: Chechen Man Charged FBI Agent With A Pole Before Being Gunned Down
Orange County Sheriff's Office/AFP
Ibragim Todashev
The official account came hours after the father of Ibragim Todashev presented photographs of his son’s bullet-ridden body and accused U.S. officials of murdering his son.
Abdulbaki Todashev claimed that his son was unarmed when he was shot seven times on May 22, in what was his third meeting with law enforcement.
An FBI agent from Boston and two detectives from the Massachusetts State Police had been interviewing Todashev at his Orlando, Florida, apartment for several hours about his possible involvement in a triple homicide in Waltham, Mass. in 2011.
The law enforcement official told the Times that the shooting occurred after Todashev acknowledged involvement in the murder and implicated Tsarnaev to the FBI agent and one of the detective.
As the 27-year-old began writing a statement admitting his involvement, the official said, he flipped the table and knocked the FBI agent to the ground.
From The New York Times:
While trying to stand up, the agent, who suffered a wound to his face from the table that required stitches, drew his gun and saw Mr. Todashev running at him with a metal pole, according to the official, adding that it might have been a broomstick.
The official added that the agent fired shot Todashev several times, knocking him backward, and fired several more shots when Todashev charged again.
Previously, unnamed officials told The Washington Post that Todashev was unarmed, as opposed to having a knife as initially reported, and that he was alone with the FBI agent when the shooting occurred.
“I have questions for the Americans,” Zaurbek Sadakhanov, a lawyer who has worked with the Todashev family as well as the Tsarnaev family, said at a Moscow press conference on Thursday. “Why was he questioned for the third time without a lawyer? Why wasn’t Ibragim’s questioning recorded on audio or videotape, seeing as he was being questioned without a lawyer? What was the need to shoot Ibragim seven times, when five fully equipped police officers with stun guns were against him?”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/police-chechen-man-charged-fbi-agent-2013-5#ixzz2UsDBNqCJ
http://rt.com/news/todashev-head-shot-father-009/
Kill shot? Man linked to Tsarnaev took FBI bullet to top of head (PHOTOS)
Published time: May 30, 2013 14:08
Edited time: May 30, 2013 20:01
Edited time: May 30, 2013 20:01
Abdulbaki Todashev, the father of Ibragim Todashev, attending the press conference at the RIA Novosti Agency.(RIA Novosti / Alexander Natruskin)
Ibragim Todashev, who was killed by the FBI during a questioning, was shot six times, once in the crown of his head, photos shown at a press conference in Moscow reveal. His father suspects it could have been a kill shot.
“I can show you the photos taken after the killing of my son. I have 16 photographs. I just would like to say that looking at these photos is like being in a movie. I only saw things like that in movies: shooting a person, and then the kill shot. Six shots in the body, one of them in the head,” Abdulbaki Todashev said at the press conference at RIA Novosti news agency in the Russian capital.
He explained that the photos were taken by friends of his son in the US, to whom the FBI handed the body.
“I want justice and I want an investigation to be carried out, I want these people [the FBI agents] to be put on trial in accordance with US law. They are not FBI officers, they are bandits. I cannot call them otherwise, they must be put on trial,” he said.
From left: lawyer Zaurbek Sadakhanov of the Moscow Interterritorial Bar Association, Abdulbaki Todashev, the father of Ibragim Todashev, and human rights activist Kheda Saratova, head of the Objective independent information and analysis agency, at the RIA press conference on May 30, 2013. (RIA Novosti / Alexander Natruskin)
Ibragim had been questioned twice by the FBI in connection with the Boston bombings, but not about the murder in which he was allegedly suspected, his father said.
The 2011 triple murder in Massachusetts, in which the Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was also implicated, was reportedly the subject of the third and final FBI interrogation of Ibragim Todashev.
His friend Khusen Taramov told the father that Ibragim had refused to come in for questioning on May 22, and instead asked the FBI agents to come and question him at home.
“Should something happen to me, call my parents,” Taramov quoted the last thing he heard from his friend.
On the day of Ibragim’s death, Taramov was questioned by the FBI separately on the street, and was refused entry back into his friend’s house, Todashev’s father claimed. He was “sent off” to wait in a nearby café on the grounds that Todashev was still being questioned and that “the interrogation would take a long time.” After some eight hours passed since the start of interrogation and his Todashev’s phone still was not answering, Taramov returned, only to find the street cordoned off with police cars and an ambulance.
“They tortured a man for eight hours with no attorney, no witnesses, nobody. We can only guess what was going on there, until there is an official investigation,” Abdulbaki Todashev said.
Lawyer Zaurbek Sadakhanov shows a photo of Ibragim Todashev’s body, with what appears to be a bullet wound in the crown of the head, at the RIA press conference on May 30, 2013. (RIA Novosti / Alexander Natruskin)
Referring to the Boston bombings, Todashev said his son believed it was a “set-up.” But Ibragim never sympathized with radical or terrorist ideas, and was not a follower of a radical Islam, he added.
Also, Ibragim was never a close friend of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev – he and
Tamerlan only “went boxing at the same gym” and “exchanged phone numbers,” the father said.
Tamerlan only “went boxing at the same gym” and “exchanged phone numbers,” the father said.
So far, Todashev has received “no official explanation” of his son’s death from the US side. He said he was only told there is an ongoing investigation “inside the FBI.”
Todashev called the earlier claims that Ibragim was shot attempting to attack an FBI agent “absurd,”saying four or five police and FBI officers could have easily handled such an attack without needing to kill his son.
“Maybe my son knew something, some information the police did not want to be made public. Maybe they wanted to silence my son,” Todashev’s father said.
Abdulbaki Todashev said his main aim now is to go to the US and get his son’s body.
“My brother and I, we went to the American embassy today. We both want to fly there, we’ve applied for a visa,” he explained.
Abdulbaki Todashev, the father of Ibragim Todashev.(RIA Novosti / Alexander Natruskin)
‘Indications of extrajudicial killing’
Todashev’s killing “shows signs of international human rights violations,” and “indications of an extrajudicial killing,” war correspondent, political analyst, and member of the Presidential Council of Human Rights Maksim Shevchenko, said at the RIA conference. It looks like a “cold-blooded murder,” he claimed.
Ibragim Todashev was killed just two days before he was due to fly back home to Russia, Shevchenko said as he pointed to a “striking chain of coincidences” in the US.
Two “key witnesses” of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s arrest have also died recently, Shevchenko said, referring to the “accidental” death of members of the FBI’s elite counterterrorism unit, who fell a “significant distance” from a helicopter last Thursday.
Lawyer Zaurbek Sadakhanov of the Moscow Interterritorial Bar Association said he fully believes this is a case of an extrajudicial execution.
Sadakhanov questioned why international human rights organizations, as well as Russian rights activists, have ignored the shooting.
He also urged Todashev’s friend Khusen Harlamov to return to Russia as “being a witness in the US is not safe.”
This is not the first time experts have questioned whether the FBI acted lawfully when shooting at Ibragim Todashev after he allegedly attacked an officer, with what some called “a use of excessive force.”
But a recent report revealed Todashev was completely unarmed when the FBI agent opened fire, raising questions over why lethal force was deemed necessary to subdue the strongly outnumbered man.
and......
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/officials-man-who-knew-boston-bomber-was-unarmed-when-shot/2013/05/29/21f05b74-c8a8-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html?wpisrc=al_national
A Chechen man who was fatally shot by an FBI agent last week during an interview about one of the Boston bombing suspects was unarmed, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
An air of mystery has surrounded the FBI shooting of Ibragim Todashev, 27, since it occurred in Todashev’s apartment early on the morning of May 22. The FBI said in a news release that day that Todashev, a former Boston resident who knew bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed during an interview with several law enforcement officers.
(Handout/GETTY IMAGES) - In this booking photo provided by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Ibragim Todashev poses for his mug shot after being arrested for aggravated battery on May 4 in Orlando, Fla.
The FBI has provided few other details, saying that the matter is being investigated by an FBI review team that may not finish its probe for several months.
“The FBI takes very seriously any shooting incidents involving our agents and as such we have an effective, time-tested process for addressing them internally,” FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said in a statement Wednesday. “The review process is thorough and objective and conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances.”
The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Wednesday called for an independent investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Officials said the division and local prosecutors are already reviewing the case.
At the time of the shooting, Todashev was being interviewed about his possible connection to a triple murder in Waltham, Mass., on Sept. 11, 2011. Law enforcement officials said he had acknowledged involvement in the murders and had implicated Tsarnaev. Officials said Todashev was not suspected of involvement in the April 15 Boston bombing.
Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police four days after the bombing. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, was captured later that day and remains in custody.
In the statement about Todashev’s shooting issued on the day of the incident, the FBI said that an agent, along with two Massachusetts State Police troopers and other law enforcement personnel, were interviewing “an individual” in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation when a “violent confrontation was initiated by the individual.”
An agent sustained non-life-threatening injuries, later described by one law enforcement official as “some cuts and abrasions.”
Initial reports citing anonymous law-enforcement individuals provided conflicting accounts of what happened. Some law enforcement officials said Todashev wielded a knife and others suggested that he attempted to grab the FBI agent’s gun.
One law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said Wednesday that Todashev lunged at the agent and overturned a table. But the official said Todashev did not have a gun or a knife. A second official also said Todashev was unarmed.
An official said that according to one account of the shooting, the other law enforcement officials had just stepped out of the room, leaving the FBI agent alone with Todashev, when the confrontation occurred.
The shooting followed hours of questioning by the law enforcement officials that had begun the night before.
Todashev’s father said after the shooting that he didn’t believe the FBI’s account of why they killed his son.
“My son could never commit a crime, I know my son too well,” Abdul-Baki Todashev, who lives in Chechnya, told the Daily Beast Web site. “He worked helping disabled people in America and did sports, coached other sportsmen. The FBI made up their accusations.”
Todashev, a martial arts fighter, met Tamerlan Tsarnaev in fighting circles in Boston before Todashev moved to Orlando.
Todashev’s family said he had a ticket to fly to Russia this month and planned to spend the summer in his native Chechnya.
http://rt.com/usa/tsarnaev-todashev-unarmed-fbi-975/
Friend of Boston bombing suspect unarmed when killed by FBI
Published time: May 30, 2013 00:50
Edited time: May 30, 2013 06:24FBI personnel walk through the complex surrounding the apartment, where Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot and killed by FBI, in Orlando, Florida, May 22, 2013. (Reuters / Phelan Ebenehack)
Edited time: May 30, 2013 06:24FBI personnel walk through the complex surrounding the apartment, where Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot and killed by FBI, in Orlando, Florida, May 22, 2013. (Reuters / Phelan Ebenehack)
Download video (20.38 MB)
Embed
Embed
Ibragim Todashev, who was killed during an FBI interview last week, was unarmed when he was fatally shot, according to law enforcement officials. Civil rights activists are now calling for independent investigation of the death.
Todashev, who knew Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had neither gun nor knife when he was shot by the FBI, two law enforcement officials, who did not disclose their names, told the Washington Post on Wednesday.
Before that, investigators offered conflicting accounts of what happened in Todashev’s final minutes. One federal agent claimed Todashev was shot after trying to grab an agent’s sidearm. A second agent claimed Todashev brandished a knife. A Bureau statement issued on the day of the incident said only that an “individual” being interviewed was killed when a “violent confrontation was initiated by the individual.”
Investigators now say that the matter will be the subject of a probe that is expected to last for several months.
“The FBI takes very seriously any shooting incidents involving our agents and as such we have an effective, time-tested process for addressing them internally,” FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said in a statement Wednesday.
“The review process is thorough and objective and conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances.”
Meanwhile a Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights group, thinks that the efforts by the FBI itself are not enough. The organization is calling on the Department of Justice to step in and review the circumstances under which Todashev was shot.
"Our call for an independent investigation of this disturbing incident is not just about the victim and his family, but is also about constitutional rights and the rule of law," said CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Hassan Shibly.
Todashev associated with Tamerlan Tsarnaev within mixed martial arts and boxing circles in the Boston area before he moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Orlando, Florida. FBI officials maintained he was never a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.
Law enforcement officials, speaking anonymously, claimed Todashev implicated himself and Tsarnaev in connection with a triple murder in Waltham, Massachusetts, on September 11, 2011. On September 12, police found three dead men in a well-kept rental home. Their throats had reportedly been slit and their bodies covered in marijuana.
The spokeswoman for Middlesex County’s district attorney’s office only told the Post that the investigation was ongoing, refusing to speculate as to whether Todashev or Tsarnaev were suspects. Sources close to the investigation said Todashev was friends with one of the victims.
Before that, investigators offered conflicting accounts of what happened in Todashev’s final minutes. One federal agent claimed Todashev was shot after trying to grab an agent’s sidearm. A second agent claimed Todashev brandished a knife. A Bureau statement issued on the day of the incident said only that an “individual” being interviewed was killed when a “violent confrontation was initiated by the individual.”
Investigators now say that the matter will be the subject of a probe that is expected to last for several months.
“The FBI takes very seriously any shooting incidents involving our agents and as such we have an effective, time-tested process for addressing them internally,” FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said in a statement Wednesday.
“The review process is thorough and objective and conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances.”
Meanwhile a Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights group, thinks that the efforts by the FBI itself are not enough. The organization is calling on the Department of Justice to step in and review the circumstances under which Todashev was shot.
"Our call for an independent investigation of this disturbing incident is not just about the victim and his family, but is also about constitutional rights and the rule of law," said CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Hassan Shibly.
Todashev associated with Tamerlan Tsarnaev within mixed martial arts and boxing circles in the Boston area before he moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Orlando, Florida. FBI officials maintained he was never a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.
Law enforcement officials, speaking anonymously, claimed Todashev implicated himself and Tsarnaev in connection with a triple murder in Waltham, Massachusetts, on September 11, 2011. On September 12, police found three dead men in a well-kept rental home. Their throats had reportedly been slit and their bodies covered in marijuana.
The spokeswoman for Middlesex County’s district attorney’s office only told the Post that the investigation was ongoing, refusing to speculate as to whether Todashev or Tsarnaev were suspects. Sources close to the investigation said Todashev was friends with one of the victims.
No comments:
Post a Comment