The crime scene. Photo by Chris.
A man under surveillance by a federal terrorism task force was shot around 7 a.m. outside the CVS on Washington Street at West Roxbury Parkway. He was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he died.
Antoinette Antonio reports both an FBI agent and a Boston police officer opened fire when the man displayed what the Globe reports was a "military-style knife". The Globe quotes Police Commissioner William Evans as saying the man approached officers with the weapon and disregarded several demands to drop it.
Ibrahim Rahim, an imam who spent two decades at Masjid Al-Quran mosque in Dorchester, identifies the man as his brother, Usaama. In a Facebook posting, he paints a different picture:
This morning while at the bus stop in Boston, my youngest brother Usaama Rahim was waiting for the bus to go to his job. He was confronted by three Boston Police officers and subsequently shot in the back three times. He was on his cell phone with my dear father during the confrontation needing a witness. His last words to my father who heard the shots were:
I can't breathe!
Police are also swarmed Blue Ledge Drive behind the plaza.
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Comments
I have yet to hear the reason
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 11:16am
I have yet to hear the reason he was confronted. It seems like they could have picked a better time and place to arrest him if he had been under surveillance. For instance was he entering or leaving the store or just walking past ? Can anybody shed any light on it ?
Would you want
By Grizzly Mama
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:12pm
a machete wielding customer in CVS? Perhaps meeting you in the razor aisle? Want a close shave?
Old news but perhaps relevant
By MikeJ
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:18pm
Secretive DEA program is using terrorism task forces to help local police make small-time drug busts
They declined to answe
By Anonymous
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 4:43pm
Authorities were asked at the presser. They declined to answer.
If there is a better way to initiate the questioning of a person of interest who has been under surveillance by JTTF for the last X number of hours, they should do it.
Or, they could try to deescalate and disarm him when he pulls a knife instead of shooting him dead. But that's just me...
Suggestions?
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 7:10pm
What in your experience is the best way to deescalate and disarm a man rushing at you with a foot-long knife? Within 10' that's less than a second to react, but we'll give you all night to think of an answer.
training
By Anonymous
Wed, 06/03/2015 - 12:53am
Two police officers successfully disarmed a man with a knife in Wilmington in January. Their chief praised their restraint from using lethal force. I do, too.
In August of 2008, Holyoke police safely disarmed a knife-wielding woman.
Police are professionals. They get training in deescalation. They get trained in disarming a person with a knife.
They had this man under surveillance. They initiated the encounter with him.
Commissioner Davis said they did not expect his reaction which is weird because they also reported that they thought he was involved in a plot to injure and kill policemen.
Make no mistake, they kind of fucked up. Now they're just worried these guys don't have to take responsibility for it. The knife makes it self defense. No one's talking about being prepared when they engage the person of interest who was under surveillance by JTTF becuase they were considered a danger to police. The reason the techniques are valuable is becuase if they were used successfully, he'd be alive and under arrest tonight.
Dapper O'Neil is rolling in his grave
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 11:22am
Makes ya God damn sick.
so you're saying there's a silver lining?
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:11pm
signed,
a yuppie gentrifier.
Glad that the terrorist was put down
By O-FISH-L
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:00pm
Glad that the terrorist was put down before the Globe could urge leniency.
what a good little sheep you
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:11pm
what a good little sheep you all are believing the feds come on what are you new if the feds are involved then there's more to the story than meets the eye
"put down" is what we do to pets suffering from fatal illness
By Anonymous
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 4:54pm
The fatal shooting of a person of interest, as a result of stopping them on the street to ask a question, is not what law enforcement had planned, I assume.
Even if they had probable cause for an arrest, their job is to execute the arrest without killing the suspect.
Even when a person is found guilty of a federal capitol crime we have a special sentencing phase. No, "put down" is definitely not part of our legal system if you care about such things. If you don't, you're un-american and you definitely don't belong in law enforcement.
I take it back.
By erik g
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:43pm
OK, John, NOW the pool is closed.
(Insert joke about pool being closed because someone crapped into it here)
That was just a snickers bar!
By Lmo
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:35pm
That was just a snickers bar!
So glad you are off the force
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:35pm
Was he convicted of terrorism by a jury? No.
Was he sentenced to death by a court of law? No.
Police and FBI are not the same as judge, jury, etc. Rule of law applies to cops, too.
Move to Iran if you don't like it - they do things the way you like there!
Are you able to provide a
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:53pm
Are you able to provide a citation that he was/is a police officer of some sort? We can all assume by that users name that they are/were a cop just like we can assume a knife wielding mad man is guilty as sin.
Yes
By erik g
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 2:16pm
This particular troll has a long and storied history here, and has identified himself as a (ex, thank god) law enforcement officer, yes.
Furthermore where either of
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:02pm
Furthermore where either of the bpd or feds uniformed? Just wondering.
The police were the judge and jury today, Swirly
By O-FISH-L
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:05pm
God bless our Boston police and FBI. I'm told that their decisive actions this morning may have prevented yet another Islamic terror attack on US soil. #bluelivesmatter
They are never judge and jury
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:13pm
This is why we have a constitution and rule of law.
Our founders feared and loathed people like you, and put in protections against a police state. Shameful that you consider yourself an American with that ignorant attitude.
Police state?
By bosguy22
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:15pm
All we know is the Police shot an armed man. That's far from a "police state".
Police state
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:22pm
In this case, yes, that's what we know.
But read what fishfuck said about "the police get to be judge and jury and executioner and God bless them blah blah".
THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF A POLICE STATE
Which is why fishy should head to Iran asap.
I also have to wonder that IF the BPD and only the BPD was involved, would we have a live suspect in custody?
Is this your way of saying
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:51pm
Is this your way of saying you respect the BPD?
not a mystery
By Anonymous
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 5:00pm
the police are not supposed to kill suspects. O-fish-L is praising the fact they did, not because their lives were in danger but because they killed a JTTF person of interest. why that's a problem in a hundred different ways is not a mystery.
Swirly, why the name calling?
By O-FISH-L
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 2:08pm
Swirly, I've always considered UHub a place for thoughtful, polite discussion and while I disagree with most of your politics, I would never resort to profanity or name calling. Fishfuck? Really? The hatred and coarse language is very unbecoming for a young mother.
Go away
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 2:13pm
Anti-American lunatic.
Yes, really.
By erik g
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 2:14pm
Gee, Fish, it's almost as though words have consequences, and when you aren't surrounded by a sea of likeminded simpletons preaching the same early paleolithic doctrine you've been repeating today, your insane and inflammatory remarks might prompt the ire of some of the readers here.
Nice job working a little sexism into the end of this faux-outrage, BTW. Full marks for the "Who, me?" routine.
Seriously, Swirly?
By tcf098
Wed, 06/03/2015 - 12:51pm
How many times does Adam have to warn you about your language before you are banned? I know for a fact you've been warned in the past. How old are you, 15?
All this time I thought you were a proper liberal girl. Just goes to show that nothing you say can be taken seriously.
Funny how some people want to sound intelligent, yet still stoop to name calling and profanity when they become flustered.
Why didn't they simply shoot
By Dave
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:21pm
Why didn't they simply shoot the knife out of his hand, 1950s TV cowboy style?
The operative word is "may"
By tachometer
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:42pm
I think that you "may" be a lunatic who is dangerous to society so I guess you'd be okay with the cops shooting you dead with an amount of evidence equal to that you have provided so far demonstrating there is a terrorist plot which has just been foiled.
If that happens I will ask god to bless the BPD and FBI that their decisive actions have prevented yet another aquatic terror attack on US soil. #mammallivesmatter
their decisive actions this
By Scratchie
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 3:17pm
You're a little long in the tooth to be believing in fairy tales, aren't you?
So stupid.
By Dan Farnkoff
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:36pm
N/t
Meanwhile, from Stoughton and UMass Boston
By Grizzly Mama
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:16pm
UMass Boston alum and ISIS dude reportedly killed:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_cov...
Xaverian Bros. High School:
By Dave
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:28pm
Xaverian Bros. High School: A breeding ground for ISIS?
NOT a Machete
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:19pm
The police are now reporting that the man drew a "military style knife".
The Glob has pictures - looks kind of like a diving knife to me, but that's my context:
[img=400x300]http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2...
Machete, military style knife
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:52pm
Machete, military style knife, whatever the label you want to put on it: that knife would kill you.
Yes, that's certainly a scary knife in that photo
By Bob Leponge
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 2:09pm
... and it might have been in the hands of the person the police shot.
BPD, I basically trust. That other outfit, the one that protected and enabled Whitey Bulger for so many years, not so much so. I'll wait for more facts before I form my opinion as to what happened.
Looks like your basic issue combat knife.
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 3:30pm
It's like the Ka -Bar that was a standard for Marines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka-Bar
And it's similar to one favored by Emwazi for his decapitation videos only his has a saw option along the back of the blade.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03213/...
Still, it's a few feet short of a machete which indicates further Globe reporting laziness. I noticed his brothers facebook page has a kind of flag image that has the shahada on it. It's a calligraphic statement of faith that also appears on various Jihadist flags.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/12/islami...
The shahada is an element of many innocuous flag images too. I wonder if that was a confusion that led to an investigation.
I also wonder if this has any relation to that trove of data captured during the raid in eastern Syria a few weeks ago that resulted in the death of the daesh (ISIL/ISIS) finance minister. Maybe there were records of foreign fighter prospects including some in North America?
The jihadists include many smart young men with aspirations and higher ed degrees who have fallen into a kind of lethal despair over the persistence of crooked autocratic regimes in the Middle East and they think takfiri purity espoused by daesh will somehow change things for the better.
Obviously this isn't true at all, but it is a useful explanation for jihadist motives.
Here's an example of a band in Beirut with an opposing outlook doing a song mocking the leader of daesh Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi.
https://youtu.be/UjaSGXmUjWI
It's sorta risky for them. They are kind of like Violent Femmes with ouds and a great female singer.
Well, in the BPD hand out
By chaosjake
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 5:42pm
Well, in the BPD hand out pictures, you can see that it has "Spec Plus" stamped on the tang. A quick search reveals that to be a brand from Ontario knives, and looking at their products makes me think it is this one. (I'm having a slow day.)
That is a brand.
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 8:29pm
As opposed to a type. The type has been around for years and probably has any number of brands and versions.
"Under surveillance for terrorism"
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 1:12pm
Yeah, and so was my son when he was 10 and we nearly missed our flight because his name was on a watch list.
Doesn't exactly instill any faith in our "anti-terrorism" folks, generally.
Sigh
By relaxyapsycho
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 2:15pm
The lengths Swirl will go to make a story about herself...
Under investigation isn't a charge
By Anonymous
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 5:17pm
Under investigation for terrorism isn't a charge, it's a description of what law enforcement is doing not what the person of interest did.
They weren't taking him into custody because they had probable cause, they were stopping him to ask questions. The point is, they didn't have probable cause and now he's dead becuase they killed him.
I hope he was involved in malicious violent criminal activity for which he would have been found guilty of a capitol crime under federal law, and sentenced to death. Then and only then is his death justified (Well, also self-defense but let's look at the underlying crime for justification.)
Point of Order
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 9:47pm
Police don't need probable cause to speak with someone any more than you need an official reason to talk to a stranger. Just like you, police can walk right up and talk to someone any time they like.
That person, of course, has every right not to speak with police. Unless police have reasonable suspicion based on specific facts to detain him, the person has as much right to walk away from them as he does from you or me.
The person does not have the right to pull a knife, gun, or other weapon and threaten someone's life just for talking to him, though. If he does, then he exposes himself to the use of self defense. Every state in the union recognizes the right to stay alive and extends that right to police and non-police alike.
You Nearly Missed a Flight.
By be
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 6:21pm
So haven't most of us for some reason or another. Actually missed a a flight back to the states (with the body search and all) as I was profiled as a potential drug mole.
Blonde White American with a decidedly Black Name, BTW. Kind of Ironic.
Possibly more details at 3 p.m.
By adamg
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 2:01pm
BPD, DA Dan Conley and the FBI will be holding a press conference then.
Made it to Huff Post:
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 3:26pm
Made it to Huff Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/02/boston-sh...
Low flying plane
By anon
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 3:27pm
I wonder if this is related to the earlier investigation:
Basis of brother's comments?
By Damaged
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 3:38pm
As much as I'm sure Ibrahim had a positive view of his now-deceased brother he doesn't explain how he knows that his brother was simply walking to the bus stop. Unless he was actually present at the shooting it seems to be grief claiming his brother's innocence not fact.
At least his brother has the narrative memorized
By moxie
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 3:41pm
Claims the deceased last words were "I can't breathe!"
Of course, in that account there is no mention of where he got the Ka-Bar knife, why he felt he needed to wave it at the police and the Feds, and why they were surveilling him in the first place. Just those magic words.
In a case like this, until the evidence comes in, I'm trusting William Evans, BPD and Dorchester, over a facebook post. Or Zip Connolly's FBI, for that matter.
I don't know, if I got shot
By chaosjake
Tue, 06/02/2015 - 5:27pm
I don't know, if I got shot twice in the chest, it would probably mess with my respiration, too. Maybe my last words would be, "I can't breathe!"
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