The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct an investigation into the role Orlando police officers played in the shooting death of Ibragim Todashev.
Todashev was killed by law enforcement officers at his home in Orlando, Florida on May 22. Since then, there have been conflicting reports as to whether Massachusetts troopers were in the room at the time of the shooting and whether their purpose at the interrogation was to investigate the Boston Marathon bombings, a 2011 triple-homicide in Waltham, or something else. The role of the Orlando police officers is even more unclear, the ACLU said.
Notwithstanding an earlier call by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for an independent investigation into the shooting death, the ACLU said, the only investigation into Todashev’s shooting is being led by the FBI.
Immediately following the shooting, conflicting statements emerged from the FBI regarding Todashev’s fatal shooting. Initially, it was reported that either an FBI agent or another law enforcement official shot Todashev after he attacked an FBI agent with a knife or other sharp object. Then new stories emerged, asserting that Todashev lunged at the FBI agent with a metal pole or broomstick, or that Todashev overturned a table, or that he was actually unarmed.
“A person was shot and killed at the hands of law enforcement in Florida. That alone should require Florida officials to investigate, and explain to the public what happened,” said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida Executive Director.
“Florida officials are simply deferring to the FBI, allowing the FBI to investigate itself, but it is difficult to accept the FBI’s honesty in this matter. The FBI has offered completely incompatible explanations, they have failed to explain how these inconsistent stories found their way into newspaper accounts of the shootings, and have not offered any clarifying comment about what really happened,” Simon added. “Due to the widely varying explanations that have surfaced about the shooting and the involvement of Massachusetts and Florida law enforcement, officials in both states should conduct their own investigations.”
The ACLU added that, in view of the public skepticism in the FBI’s ability to investigate itself, “an independent investigation is necessary to maintain public confidence in law enforcement and get to the bottom of the events surrounding Todashev’s death.”
Todashev’s shooting death also raises concerns regarding accountability for local police assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) program, the ACLU said. According to news reports, at least one of the Massachusetts state troopers was assigned to the regional JTTF.
