All Muslims in the Metro Detroit area, if not Michigan as a whole, heard the news of the Detroit Imam being gunned down by FBI agents back in October 2009. Nearly eight months after his brutal murder, an independent autopsy was conducted and revealed a few frightening facts.
Initially the FBI had stated that Imam Luqman Abdullah opened fire on agents. Then the story became that the Imam shot a police dog which provoked the agents to 'return fire'. The truth came out though, when an autopsy from forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, from Pennsylvania, concluded: "an FBI dog killed in the raid was responsible for wounds on the imam's face, hands and arms. The report also concluded that the imam's jaw was broken as a result of the attack and not from an impact of falling to the ground as previously believed."
In these circumstances it is easy to see how someone (the person being attacked by an animal) might feel the need to use a weapon- it is simply a case of self-defense and preservation. One cannot reason with a dog, one cannot outrun or overpower a FBI trained dog bent on causing one injury; one's adrenaline pumped mind at that moment thinks onlyof survival.
Even if FBI agents, who are trained extensively to deal with these type of situations, felt threatened by Imam Luqman's actions, it does not justify their unloading 21 bullets into his body. Barbaric, savage, hateful, and psychotic are four adjectives that describe the actions of the agents responsible.
In both Wecht's and the initial autopsy report, it was found that the Imam had gunshot wounds on his back and several underneath his arms. Most of the gunshots were found in the groin/crotch region, and four were found in his abdomen.
CAIR-MI is calling for the President of the United States to issue an edict granting the opening up of a civil rights investigation, regarding the Imam's murder.
Muslims, and humanists, need to rally up and offer their support and services to bring about justice and tolerance. This is not something that we can simply 'pray' about. We need to act, we need to be proactive, and effective about this topic.
What can you do, directly or indirectly, to prevent something like this from happening ever again? And further, how can you help his wife and family now left behind?
