Many questions still in fatal shooting of Imam

DawudWalid Leave a Comment

Nine months after the fatal shooting of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah (shot 21 times including twice in the back), there are still many answered questions regarding his death and the continued lack of transparency from law enforcement agencies.

Here is a summarized timeline of events:

*Imam Luqman Abdullah killed in Dearborn warehouse – October 28,2009

*American Muslim Taskforce (umbrella organization of almost every major American Muslim group) called for independent investigation into Abdullah’s death – November 4, 2009

SEE:  http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=5276

*Letter sent to Department of Justice Civil Rights Division signed by CAIR-MI, ACLU-MI, National Lawyers Guild, Congress of Arab-American Organizations (CAAO), Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality,& the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ) asking them to inquire into a series of unanswered questions pertaining to Abdullah’s killing – November 16, 2009

SEE: http://dawudwalid.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/what-letter-to-doj-is-inquiring/

*Dearborn Police announce that they asked Wayne County Medical Examiner to suppress autopsy report of Abdullah – 12/9/10

SEE: http://michiganmessenger.com/31540/abdullah-autopsy-kept-secret-by-wayne-county

*Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) sends letter to U.S. Attorney General Holder asking for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division to conduct an independent review of the Imam Luqman case and for DOJ to review its practice of using confidential informants – January 13, 2010

SEE: http://www.4shared.com/get/k9_h3emk/Letter_-_Conyers_Holder.html;jsessionid=FD5E29B6ECC0C0F107589EB629F748AF.dc216

*NAACP and Muslim Advocates send letter to AG Holder asking for independent investigation and questioning usage of informants – February 11, 2010

SEE: http://www.muslimadvocates.org/documents/Imam%20Luqman%20Letter,%202-11-10.final.pdf

*Doug Baker named by MI Attorney General Mike Cox to be special investigator into Imam Luqman killing after Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy declines to take case due to FBI not providing information she requested – April 12, 2010

SEE: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/23128790/detail.html

*Metro Detroit religious leaders send letter to President Obama asking him to direct AG Holder to hold independent investigation – May 15, 2010

SEE: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/23568382/detail.html

*Dearborn police conclude probe into death of Imam Luqman, which began directly after his death.  Dearborn Police never released investigative results to the public – May 20, 2010

SEE: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/05/dearborn_police_complete_probe.html

*NAACP brings forth resolution on floor of national convention in Kansas City relating to the fatal shooting of Imam Luqman – July 13, 2010

*Numerous Freedom of Information Act requests were filed by CAIR-MI to various entities of the multi-jurisdictional law enforcement task force (FBI, MI State Police, Wayne Country Sheriff, Dearborn Police & Detroit Police), who were involved in the series of raids on the day of Abdullah’s demise.  All requests including requests for video surveillance footage in the warehouse were denied.  AG Cox’s office has also denied FOIA’s.

The only FOIA’s granted (not to CAIR-MI) were from ACLU-MI to Dearborn confirming that emergency medical assistance was not called after Abdullah’s shooting and to FOX 2 news regarding the necropsy report of the FBI canine, which did not show what caliber bullet killed the canine.

DawudWalid

Dawud Walid is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), which is a chapter of America's largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for American Muslims and is a member of the Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC) Imams Committee. Walid has been interviewed and quoted in approximately 150 media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Wall St Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, BBC, FOX News and Al-Jazeera. Furthermore, Walid was a political blogger for the Detroit News from January 2014 to January 2016, has had essays published in the 2012 book All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim, the 2014 book Qur'an in Conversation and was quoted as an expert in 13 additional books and academic dissertations. He was also a featured character in the 2013 HBO documentary "The Education of Mohammad Hussein." Walid has lectured at over 50 institutions of higher learning about Islam, interfaith dialogue and social justice including at Harvard University, DePaul University and the University of the Virgin Islands - St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses as well as spoken at the 2008 and 2011 Congressional Black Caucus Conventions alongside prominent speakers such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Congressman Keith Ellison. In 2008, Walid delivered the closing benediction at the historic 52nd Michigan Electoral College in the Michigan State Senate chambers and gave the Baccalaureate speech for graduates of the prestigious Cranbrook-Kingswood Academy located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Walid was also a featured speaker at the 2009 and 2010 Malian Peace and Tolerance Conferences at the University of Bamako in Mali, West Africa. He has also given testimony at hearings and briefings in front of Michigan state legislators and U.S. congressional representatives, including speaking before members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C. Walid has studied under qualified scholars the disciplines of Arabic grammar and morphology, foundations of Islamic jurisprudence, sciences of the exegesis of the Qur’an, and Islamic history during the era of Prophet Muhammad through the governments of the first 5 caliphs. He previously served as an imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit and the Bosnian American Islamic Center in Hamtramck, Michigan, and continues to deliver sermons and lectures at Islamic centers across the United States and Canada. Walid was a 2011 - 2012 fellow of the University of Southern California (USC) American Muslim Civil Leadership Institute (AMCLI) and a 2014 - 2015 fellow of the Wayne State Law School Detroit Action Equity Lab (DEAL). Walid served in the United States Navy under honorable conditions earning two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals while deployed abroad. He has also received awards of recognition from the city councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing as well as a number of other religious and community organizations.

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