The FBI and JTTF were monitoring the “suspect” 24 hrs a day. Was he set up in a Isis “honey trap” – Its most likely. Rahim only (allegedly) had a knife. Deadly force was used. The Burger King video is too far away to prove anything other than overwhelming force by JTTF, killing Rahim in the streets on Boston. The rest? Well you will just have to trust the authorities on all of that. ~ Jack
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — Surveillance video released Monday of the fatal shooting of a Boston man suspected of plotting to kill police officers shows six plainclothes officers surrounding him before opening fire.
The blurry video shows Usaamah Rahim, 26, walking through a CVS parking lot on his way to a bus stop in the city’s Roslindale neighborhood during the early morning hours of June 2.
Officers approach Rahim but back up as Rahim walks toward them in the parking lot. The officers draw their firearms, and Rahim, who is mostly obscured by a light pole during the altercation, falls to the ground.
It is not clear from the video what specifically led officers to draw their weapons or which officers discharged them. Police have said two officers — an FBI agent and a police officer — fired three shots. Officials released the original version of the video, which comes from a nearby Burger King restaurant, as well as a version that zooms in on the encounter.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said officers made multiple requests of Rahim to drop his knife.
“I think he was intent, as the affidavit said, on getting a boy in blue,” Evans said. “I don’t think, at this point, he was going to go down very easy.”
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Evans said he believed his officers acted responsibly.
“It looks like he was well within striking distance of one of the officers,” Evans said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said the video “speaks for itself” and is “one piece of evidence among many.”
“When it can inform the public about what happened and why, it is in everyone’s best interest to share it as soon as possible to tamp down rumors and bad information,” he said.
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Rev. Mark Scott of the Azuza Christian Community said following the press conference the video appeared to show officers “exercised as much restraint as possible” during the encounter.
Rahim’s family and community leaders viewed the surveillance video last week.
Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said the video largely corroborated the police account of the shooting. But Abdullah Faaruuq, an imam at the Mosque for the Praising of Allah in Boston, suggested it was “inconclusive” because it’s not clear if Rahim had a knife in his hand.
Ibrahim Rahim, who leads a mosque in Oakland, California, suggested in the hours after the shooting that his brother had been shot in the back. But the family recanted those statements after viewing the video, saying they were based on erroneous third-hand information.
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A lawyer for Rahim’s family did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Vincent Lisi, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, said members of the FBI and Boston police’s Joint Terrorism Task Force attempted to question Rahim after they intercepted a message suggesting Rahim planned to carry out an attack on police officers.
Officials have said Rahim had also talked about beheading anti-Muslim blogger Pamela Geller before deciding to target police.
Authorities have said the terrorism task force had Rahim under 24-hour surveillance and had intercepted conversations between Rahim and his nephew, David Wright, who was arrested last week on a charge of conspiracy with intent to obstruct a federal investigation. It isn’t clear whether Wright has an attorney.
