Father of Chechen man shot by FBI trying to get answers in Florida

The father of a Chechen man shot by an FBI agent in Orlando is in Florida, where he is trying to get answers about his son’s death.

 

Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Florida Council on American Islamic Relations in Tampa, told the Orlando Sentinel his organization planned to meet Tuesday with Abdulbaki Todashev — who traveled to the U.S. from Russia.

 

His son, 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, was killed May 22 while he was being questioned by a Boston-based FBI agent, Massachusetts state troopers, and other law-enforcement officers.

Shibly said CAIR officials and Abdulbaki Todashev planned to discuss what options the family has, including taking legal action against the FBI.

 

“We’re exploring those options right now,” Shibly said.

 

The FBI has released little information about the Orlando shooting or explained publicly what transpired that night.

 

Ibragim Todashev was “primarily” being questioned about a September 2011 triple slaying in Waltham, Mass., but he was also being questioned about his friendship with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Initially, the FBI said Todashev initiated a “violent confrontation” during the questioning at a condo near Universal Studios.

“During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life threatening injuries,” the FBI said shortly after the shooting.

Shibly told the Sentinel that CAIR’s investigation into the shooting turned up very “troubling” information.

He said Todashev’s friends have said they were questioned by the FBI in the days before the fatal shooting, and threats were made suggesting if the friends did not spy on local mosques they would risk having their immigration statuses changed.

Meanwhile, the ACLU said Abdulbaki Todashev has also requested to meet with organization representatives while he is visiting the U.S. The ACLU asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the Ibragim Todashev shooting, but the agency declined late last month, stating it would be inappropriate because it is a federal case.

 

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