Usaamah Rahim, Suspect in Fatal Boston Police Shooting, Was Not Hit in Back: Clergy
A terror suspect killed by police in Boston was not shot in the back as his family claimed, community leaders said Wednesday after police took the unusual step of showing them footage of the encounter.
Usaamah Rahim, 26, was killed Tuesday morning after he was stopped for questioning in a terror investigation. Police said that he threatened them with a military-style knife as officers ordered him to stand down.
Rahim’s family later claimed that he was on the phone when he was shot, and that he was hit in the back. Police said they showed the surveillance footage to community leaders, including Muslim leaders, in the name of transparency.
Darnell Williams, head of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said that the video “150 percent” corroborates the police account. Other leaders stopped short of calling the shooting justified, saying they wanted to know more.
Another suspect in the investigation, David Wright, was expected to face a federal judge Wednesday afternoon following his arrest just hours after Rahim’s shooting.
While Rahim had been under surveillance for several weeks by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force, authorities have yet to detail the case against either man, their relationship or how far-reaching the investigation has become.
A senior official told NBC News on Tuesday that they were reviewing whether Rahim had become radicalized by ISIS-inspired social media messages and was plotting a possible attack.
Rep. Michael McCaul, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said at a hearing Wednesday that Rahim was spreading propaganda for ISIS.
Five officers and federal agents encountered Rahim on Tuesday morning in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood.
As they retreated, Rahim continued to move forward, and was shot three times in the front of his body, police said. They earlier said he was shot twice.
Rahim’s brother, Ibrahim Rahim, claimed on social media after the shooting that his brother was struck three times in the back and stayed on the phone with their father because he wanted a witness.
Boston Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, who was allowed to watch the video, said that although the footage’s images were “vague,” Rahim did not appear to be obeying the officers’ commands.
“We’re not satisfied until (the case is) fully vetted,” Faaruuq said at a news conference at police headquarters after viewing the tape…