For those who do not know, The Michigan Citizen is a popular African-American newspaper in Detroit. In public statements and ethnic media reports, the broader African-American community seems to be more critical than Metro Detroit Muslims, probably due to the long history that Blacks in Detroit have with being abused by law enforcement.
Below is a link to the story and section that I’ve attracted. It’s a very long article!
http://www.michigancitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=7960&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1070&hn=michigancitizen&he=.com
FBI murders Detroit Imam, targets Muslims nationally
Imam Luqman Abdullah’s mosque predominantly Black, poor
By Diane Bukowski
Michigan Citizen
Imam Adullah’s family members, who washed his body for burial in the Muslim custom, said he was shot at least eighteen times. The FBI reportedly airlifted a police dog killed during the melee but accorded no medical attention to the Imam.
“Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah was known in Detroit for his many, many years of work feeding the hungry and housing the homeless. Instead of assassinating such leaders who help the people, the FBI should be raiding the bankers who are behind the growing hunger and homelessness,” said Mike Shane of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice (MECAWI).
MECAWI planned a demonstration against the raid in front of the McNamara Federal Building Nov. 5. In a flier, the group noted that the FBI-charged Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey with mail fraud in the 1920s, worked with the KKK in murders and attacks on civil rights workers in the 50s and 60s, and likely orchestrated the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. The FBI also raided, arrested and murdered Black Panther Party and American Indian Movement members in the 1960s.
In one conversation, informant S-2 said he tried to get Imam Abdullah to “do something” during the 2006 Super Bowl in Detroit. S-2 said, “Abdullah said he would not be involved in injuring innocent people for no reason: ‘If there’s something to be done … it’s going to be legitimate.’”
The complaint also claims Imam Abdullah was part of a national organization led by Imam Jamil al-Amin (former Black Panther, H. Rap Brown). Imam al-Amin is currently serving a natural life sentence at the ADX Florence Supermax Prison in Colorado, convicted of killing a police officer in Fulton County, Georgia in 2000. His supporters claim it was a political frame-up. Police said they found the murder weapons “near” Imam al-Amin’s location, and that they followed the wounded killer’s blood trail there, but Al-Amin had no wounds.
The arraignment of eight of the Detroit Muslims in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald A. Scheer Oct. 29 was packed with family members and supporters. During the hearing, federal pre-trial services recommended that most of the detainees be released on bond, with or without tethers.
U.S. Attorney Cynthia Oberg continually objected to those recommendations.
The men’s lawyers contended they were stable family men with wives and children and faced relatively minor sentences if convicted. Judge Scheer released three of the men, continued the detention of three others, and took one man’s release under advisement.
That man was Muhammad Abdul Salaam, who is represented by prominent Detroit attorney and activist Jeffrey Edison. Salaam, along with other defendants, is charged with the interstate sale of stolen goods and faces a maximum sentence of five years.
“Mr. Salaam has 10 children, six of whom live here in Detroit with his wife,” said Edison. “Any reporting referenced by the government in the complaint against him does not reflect the words of Mr. Salaam, and I question the trustworthiness of what someone else said.”
6 Comments
Short of calling it murder, the shooting of Imam Abdullah was excessive and unwarranted. Sending the dog in after him without even so much as announcing their presence and offering him an opportunity to surrender, which is what I thought the federal knock and announce rule says is required under the Fourth Amendment search and seizure principles, was an act to provoke Imam Abdullah to justify killing that man. I am outraged over the brutal manner in which fell. It seems to me the amount of force employed was totally unnecessary for someone wanted for allegedly receiving and profiting from stolen goods (which allegations, it bears repeating, are proof of nothing). What is deeply troubling, too, is that this all came about after the FBI misrepresented to area Muslim leaders several months ago that they were not employing moles and undercover spies inside area mosques — which we now learned they did just that in the case of Imam Abdullah. What cocnerns me, as well, is that the government may use his unjustifable killing as a test case to see how far it can go in unleashing more attacks on civil rights leaders, community activists, and the like — while the Michigan Militia can continue to exercise its war games against this very same government in the woods only 50 miles outside of Detroit. So, someone please tell me — who is the real threat to US security here: the militia and other extremists or the leaders of our community who only reach out to help the community to believe in self-enfranchisement and the betterment of ourselves!
I am so sorry I was unable to make it to the community forum meeting at the Muslim Center on Friday, but I received word of the meeting late that day while I was at work. But my thoughts and prayers are with the community at this difficult time and by all means, I would like to be kept apprised of future meetings involving this and other important issues affecting us Detroiters and the Muslim community because an injustice to one is an injustice to us all!
Roberto Guzman
Yes, murder is a strong word.
This case is getting deeper with each day.
Well, unless and until we receive a satisfactory response in the form of a federal probe that is done with fairness and impartiality, we are left with the undisputable fact that Imam Abdullah was killed with eighteen bullets. That hardly comes close to justifable killing or killing in self defense. It was excessive and needless. The FBI is one of the best trained shooters in law enforcement. They are trained to shoot to kill as well as to simply incapacitate. But eighteen bullets? There can be no justification for this act of murder and it is the essence of my First Amendment free speech right to call it as it is. Murder.
Yes, I agree that it is your right to call it “murder.” Some activists that I know, who are Christian brothers & sisters call this “assassination.”
I would go that far too. It was indeed an assassination in view of the fact that here in our community, Imam Abudllah was a leader who reached out to help the downtrodden and less fortunate. We care nothing about what the indictment says because, as we all know, allegations are proofs of nothing. They’re just that. I make the analogy here that his killing is reminiscent of the ruthlessness of the slave masters who would use terror and murder to kill a leader among the slaves to teach others on the plantation a lesson. And being a lifelong Detroiter, Brother Walid, I feel that is precisely the message the government is sending to an entire city. They treat Detroit like it is one huge plantation and I truly hope Detroiters see the more sinister acts that were committed here.
it is definitely a sad world we live in, everyone carries a form of identification that bears title to their religious preference and yet it is only a muslim that gets announced as a religious person committing a crime. as muslims we never condone wrong doings yet, even in times of dispute and unsettledness there is justice, fairness and mercy. may the family, the community and the ummah be comforted by the true Comfort of Allah, may we all be rightly guided. sad, sad, news! peace