NAACP Supports the Investigation into the Shooting Death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah

Adopted

WHEREAS, Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a local Muslim leader, was shot to death in Dearborn, Michigan, where the largest number of Muslim reside outside the Middle-East, on October 28, 2009 by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents; and 

WHEREAS, Imam Abdullah, 53, was shot 20 times in less than five seconds when the FBI raided a warehouse, in a report released by Wayne County's chief medical examiner; and 

WHEREAS, the chief examiner also reported that 20 shots caused 21 wounds, mostly on the left side of Abdullah's body from the abdomen down, that it could not be determined which one was the fatal gunshot wound; and 

WHEREAS, the chief examiner stated that "We see many multiple gunshot wound cases, but I don't ever remember police being involved in one that had as many gunshot wounds as this one"; and 

WHEREAS, FBI officials in Detroit have said "Abdullah fired a gun when they tried to arrest him at the Dearborn warehouse and the fatal shooting was justified"; and 

WHEREAS, the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan (CAIR) office said photos it obtained from the medical examiner show evidence not included in official reports of the October 28 shooting death; and 

WHEREAS, the Honorable John Conyers and a coalition of civil rights groups has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting a probe into Adbullah's shooting to know whether excessive force was used during the FBI's raid and Abdullah's shooting. 

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that at a time when our national security depends so heavily on positive relations with Muslim communities in the United States and around the world, the NAACP pledge to support the demand for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, to look into the controversial shooting of Imam Abdullah and provide a thorough, rigorous, credible and transparent investigation, and that the results of that investigation be released to the public.