Attorney: Boston terror suspect's family didn't see signs of radicalization
BOSTON - An attorney for the family of a Boston man who was shot to death by terror investigators who were surveilling him said Thursday that the family is reserving judgment until a complete investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting takes place.
Ronald Sullivan said at a news conference held at the site of the shooting that Usaamah Rahim's family was "unaware of any radicalization and did not see any signs of radicalization" in the 26-year-old, who was killed Tuesday by anti-terror investigators who tried to question him.
"The family didn't know of any plans to kill or any plans of misconduct," Sullivan said, adding that the family is grieving and is interested only in ensuring that a "complete, transparent" investigation takes places.
"The family hopes to work productively and cooperatively with federal and local authorities in a joint effort to search for truth," Sullivan said, adding that the family was heading to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office after the news conference to see a surveillance video of the shooting.
Community leaders who already saw the video say it backs the police account and shows officers retreating as Rahim lunges at them with a military-style knife, then shooting when he refused to drop it.
Sullivan also on Thursday said that publicly available police reports indicate that when law enforcement made contact with Rahim on the day of the shooting, they did not have a warrant.
Sullivan said Rahim is expected to be buried Friday. The 26-year-old's family members declined to speak Thursday, except for his aunt who briefly told reporters that she thinks her nephew "felt threatened" following a series of shootings across the county involving police and black men.
"It has nothing to do with Islam," the aunt, who wanted to only be identified as Karen, said.
Abdullah Farooq, a local Imam and family representative, similarly questioned Thursday whether Rahim's alleged actions had anything to do with Islam.
Farooq also took time to question authorities' intentions, calling the fatal encounter they had with Rahim "ill-conceived" and "reckless."
"If they considered him as a very dangerous person, they should have taken precautions in approaching him," Farooq said. "I don't think that their intent was to capture him and keep him alive."
Boston Police said Thursday that Rahim had talked about beheading blogger Pamela Geller before deciding to target police officers.
"There was some mention of that name," said Police Commissioner William Evans, who dismissed it as "wishful thinking" while speaking on the "Today" show.
Geller wasn't surprised that she may have been a target. She's a combative personality known for provoking Muslims by campaigning against a mosque near the World Trade Center site in New York, sponsoring inflammatory advertisements and organizing Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas.
"I'm the number one tarter for ISIS right now," Geller told CBS News.
On May 3, Geller organized the Prophet Muhammad cartoon drawing contest in Garland, Texas, where police fatally shot two men who opened fire outside the event.
On Wednesday night, Geller told CBS News she has increased her security but has yet to discuss the threat with the FBI.
Rahim's brother, Ibrahim Rahim, is a prominent religious scholar among Muslims and African-Americans in Boston. He initially disputed the police account, claiming his brother had been shot three times in the back, but released a statement Thursday calling on Muslims to "remain calm" and pray.
The family attorney, Ronald Sullivan, said Thursday that Ibrahim Rahim's initial comments were based on information he received from third parties.
"I don't know how the police acted. We haven't seen the video as of yet," Sullivan said.
"The family wants to be very careful to not engage in speculation," he added.
The FBI said Rahim plotted to commit some kind of attack, and ordered three large knives on Amazon.com a week before he was confronted by the anti-terrorism task force that had him under 24-hour surveillance.
The FBI said police confronted Rahim after he told his nephew, David Wright, in a telephone conversation they were monitoring on Tuesday that he had changed his mind about beheading an out-of-state victim and instead planned to kill local police officers either Tuesday or Wednesday.
"Yeah, I'm going to be on vacation right here in Massachusetts," Rahim allegedly said. "I'm just going to, ah, go after them, those boys in blue."
An FBI affidavit supporting a criminal complaint against Wright said "going on vacation" was their code for committing violent jihad.
Wright, meanwhile, was recorded saying something about "thinking with your head on your chest," the FBI said, explaining that this was a reference to the beheadings shown in Islamic State propaganda videos.
Nowhere in the evidence made public thus far in this case does either man actually say the word "beheading."
Federal officials say Rahim and Wright met on a Rhode Island beach on May 31 with an unidentified third person who has not been arrested or charged.