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FBI agent cleared in Florida shooting of suspect questioned about Boston bombing | FBI agent cleared in Florida shooting of suspect questioned about Boston bombing |
(35 minutes later) | |
A Florida prosecutor has ruled that an FBI agent was justified in using deadly force when he shot and killed a Chechen man connected to two brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing. | A Florida prosecutor has ruled that an FBI agent was justified in using deadly force when he shot and killed a Chechen man connected to two brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing. |
Law enforcement officials said that Ibragim Todashev, 27, a mixed-martial-arts fighter, attacked the agent with a metal pole during an interview at his Orlando apartment on May 22. | |
FBI officials have said the male agent, who has not been identified, was acting in self-defense when he shot Todashev multiple times. The agent suffered a wound to the back of the head that required stitches. It’s not clear what first sparked the confrontation. | FBI officials have said the male agent, who has not been identified, was acting in self-defense when he shot Todashev multiple times. The agent suffered a wound to the back of the head that required stitches. It’s not clear what first sparked the confrontation. |
The investigation’s conclusion seemingly brings to an end a 10-month push by Todashev’s family and several civil rights organizations for more information about the shooting. | The investigation’s conclusion seemingly brings to an end a 10-month push by Todashev’s family and several civil rights organizations for more information about the shooting. |
Officials with the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights group that has provided Todashev’s family with legal representation, said the investigation’s conclusion is troubling. | |
“Obviously we have a lot of concerns about this, a lot of concerns,” said Hassan Shibly, executive director of the group’s Florida chapter. “We’re eagerly waiting to see the full report. We weren’t expecting any of this to come out today.” | “Obviously we have a lot of concerns about this, a lot of concerns,” said Hassan Shibly, executive director of the group’s Florida chapter. “We’re eagerly waiting to see the full report. We weren’t expecting any of this to come out today.” |
The FBI cleared the agent in the Todashev shooting several months ago. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is in the final stages of finishing its own investigation and is also expected to clear him, according to individuals familiar with that inquiry. | The FBI cleared the agent in the Todashev shooting several months ago. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is in the final stages of finishing its own investigation and is also expected to clear him, according to individuals familiar with that inquiry. |
The FBI had gone to Florida to question Todashev, who was friends with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers. | |
Tsarnaev was killed in the aftermath of the Boston bombings in a confrontation with police as he tried to escape with his younger brother, who ran him over in a car while trying to elude police. | Tsarnaev was killed in the aftermath of the Boston bombings in a confrontation with police as he tried to escape with his younger brother, who ran him over in a car while trying to elude police. |
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was later apprehended and charged in the bombing. | Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was later apprehended and charged in the bombing. |
Before he attacked the agent, Todashev told investigators he and Tsarnaev had participated in a slaying in Waltham, Mass., in 2011, officials said. | Before he attacked the agent, Todashev told investigators he and Tsarnaev had participated in a slaying in Waltham, Mass., in 2011, officials said. |
Several friends and family members of Todashev have insisted that he had never previously discussed with them his friendship with the elder Tsarnaev brother or the Waltham murder. | |
Questions continue to surround the shooting, which occurred 10 months ago in an apartment complex just up the street from the entrance to Disney World. According to friends and family members of Todashev, he was questioned for more than five hours in his apartment before the shooting and believed that he had been followed for weeks by federal agents. | |
In the months since the shooting, several of Todashev’s close friends — including a friend who initially attended the fatal FBI interview with him, as well as Todashev’s live-in girlfriend — have said that they have been arrested, deported or barred from re-entering the U.S. | |
Jeffrey Ashton, the Florida state prosecutor who reviewed the shooting, is expected to make the results public Tuesday. | |
A message left with Ashton’s office was not immediately returned. | A message left with Ashton’s office was not immediately returned. |
Todashev’s family has worked with CAIR, the state chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida and Massachusetts, and prominent Florida lawyer Barry Cohen to pressure federal officials to release more information and to secure the independent investigation. | |
A message left with Cohen’s office was not immediately returned. | |
The CAIR legal team had met Friday morning to discuss how it would respond to the report and was caught off guard when the information leaked. | |
“Certainly, the FBI’s failure to prosecute a single agent in its history for shooting a suspect does not help its credibility,” Shibly said. “They have also done an excellent job ensuring that key friends and witnesses to the events of the night are unable to be in the U.S. before the report is released.” |