Anthony
Super Moderator
The father of Ibragim Todashev, the 27 year old man that was shot and killed by FBI agents investigating the Boston Marathon bombing has hired two prominent Florida civil rights attorneys to uncover the truth about his son's death.
Abdulbaki Todashev spoke at a Tuesday press conference in Tampa at which the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group, made and announcement that lawyers Barry Cohen and Eric Ludin had been retained to represent the Todashev family as three separate investigations into the shooting.
Ibragim Todashev an acquaintance of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was being interrogated by the federal agents in his Orlando apartment for several hours, when he was killed. The FBI have launched an internal inquiry and haven’t released or discussed details of the incident. Jeff Ashton, state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties announced his own criminal investigation last week. CAIR officials have hired experts to conduct their own examination of the evidence, and said Tuesday they reserved the right to launch civil action depending on the results of the various inquiries.
"It's not just about the Muslim community, it's about the civil rights of all Americans," Hassan Shibly, the group's executive director, said. "No legal authority is above the law. This case is about police accountability and justice. I don't think we want to live in a country where people get shot by federal agents in their own homes."
Abdulbaki Todashev, a Chechen man, speaking through a translator, said his son was "a good boy who didn't do anything wrong". He said that he felt "certain we will be able to achieve justice".
"He was simply not capable of doing it," Todashev said, referring to claim in an early FBI statement that Ibragim Todashev, who had trained at the same mixed martial arts gym in Boston as Tsarnaev, lunged at the agents. His son had recently undergone knee surgery and was incapable of leaping at anybody, he said.
"He was responsible and conscientious. He was a good brother, a good family member, we all loved him very much and he loved us back."
He told reporters that his son was going to Russia to visit family days before he was killed.
"I'd only seen and heard things like that in the movies , they shoot somebody and then a shot in the head to make sure," he said then, commenting on CAIR's assertion, based on autopsy photos and reports of friends who prepared the body for burial, that his son was shot six times in the torso and once in the back of the head.
Tucker Ludin, one of the attorneys for the family spoke to the media.
"We have theories of what happened but it would be inappropriate to theories and it could interfere in some way with Mr. Ashton's investigation," Ludin said.
"We want to be as co-operative as possible and so we aren't going to comment on what we think happened in that room except that we think it was not a justified killing."
He informed reporters that the FBI had tried to talk to Todashev, but that he had declined an interview without a lawyer present.
"My client's son may have been an acquaintance with a person involved in an evil act, but merely being an acquaintance, merely being a Muslim, merely being from a Russian province, does not mean he isn't deserving of proper treatment by law enforcement officers," he said.
The FBI declined to answer or comment on the case.
Abdulbaki Todashev spoke at a Tuesday press conference in Tampa at which the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group, made and announcement that lawyers Barry Cohen and Eric Ludin had been retained to represent the Todashev family as three separate investigations into the shooting.
Ibragim Todashev an acquaintance of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was being interrogated by the federal agents in his Orlando apartment for several hours, when he was killed. The FBI have launched an internal inquiry and haven’t released or discussed details of the incident. Jeff Ashton, state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties announced his own criminal investigation last week. CAIR officials have hired experts to conduct their own examination of the evidence, and said Tuesday they reserved the right to launch civil action depending on the results of the various inquiries.
"It's not just about the Muslim community, it's about the civil rights of all Americans," Hassan Shibly, the group's executive director, said. "No legal authority is above the law. This case is about police accountability and justice. I don't think we want to live in a country where people get shot by federal agents in their own homes."
Abdulbaki Todashev, a Chechen man, speaking through a translator, said his son was "a good boy who didn't do anything wrong". He said that he felt "certain we will be able to achieve justice".
"He was simply not capable of doing it," Todashev said, referring to claim in an early FBI statement that Ibragim Todashev, who had trained at the same mixed martial arts gym in Boston as Tsarnaev, lunged at the agents. His son had recently undergone knee surgery and was incapable of leaping at anybody, he said.
"He was responsible and conscientious. He was a good brother, a good family member, we all loved him very much and he loved us back."
He told reporters that his son was going to Russia to visit family days before he was killed.
"I'd only seen and heard things like that in the movies , they shoot somebody and then a shot in the head to make sure," he said then, commenting on CAIR's assertion, based on autopsy photos and reports of friends who prepared the body for burial, that his son was shot six times in the torso and once in the back of the head.
Tucker Ludin, one of the attorneys for the family spoke to the media.
"We have theories of what happened but it would be inappropriate to theories and it could interfere in some way with Mr. Ashton's investigation," Ludin said.
"We want to be as co-operative as possible and so we aren't going to comment on what we think happened in that room except that we think it was not a justified killing."
He informed reporters that the FBI had tried to talk to Todashev, but that he had declined an interview without a lawyer present.
"My client's son may have been an acquaintance with a person involved in an evil act, but merely being an acquaintance, merely being a Muslim, merely being from a Russian province, does not mean he isn't deserving of proper treatment by law enforcement officers," he said.
The FBI declined to answer or comment on the case.