Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah was shot and killed during an FBI raid last October. But the circumstances surrounding his death are still hotly contested.
Sunday night, Local 4 Defenders revealed it was Abdullah who shot the bullet that killed Freddy, an FBI agent dog also killed during the raid.
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Sources close to the investigation confirmed to Local 4 Defender Kevin Dietz that a single bullet to the neck killed Freddy.
The unnamed source close to the investigation said that the bullet came from a stolen handgun shot by Abdullah.
FBI agents maintain that Abdullah refused to surrender during the raid, which was part of a stolen goods and fencing case.
Agents report that Freddy, a Belgian Malinois, was sent in to subdue him.
However, the cleric?s supporters, like Ron Scott, of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, question that stance.
?Andy Arena and the FBI have a lot to answer, in terms of the killing of the imam. And if Freddy died unfortunately, I think it was because of the decisions that were made by the FBI,? said Scott. ?Unleashing an animal, that?s a cruelty situation as far as I?m concerned, unleashing an animal who was trained to do certain than things and then putting him in contact with an individual, who by our accounts, was in fact, attempting to surrender.?
Autopsy reports show Abdullah was shot 21 times by four FBI agents.
Agents said Adbullah fired first. Abdullahh proponents want proof.
?We don?t know if there was a gun in his hand. I want to see paraffin tests on his hands. I want to find out the ballistics of the gun,? Scott said.
The FBI has an unidentified informant and tape recordings of Abdullah spouting anti-government sentiments and promoting violence against law enforcement officers.
Transcripts of those recordings have been released in federal court documents.
Yet, Scott maintains Abdullah was a peaceful man and suggests the informant was dangerous.
?We know from witnesses, that we have, that he was the one that was always suggesting that there be some activity that was illegal,? said Scott.
Scott also took issue with images Local 4 Defenders showed last night of the makeshift shooting range in the basement of Abdullah?s mosque.
Local 4 Defenders found the basement walls riddled with bullet holes. Federal investigators said that is how they found the mosque on the day of the raid.
Scott said there?s no proof Abdullah or his followers are responsible for the bullet holes. He went further still and said that even if they were shooting in the basement, Scott said Abdullah and others have the right to be prepared to protect themselves in what Scott called a dangerous neighborhood.