Clergy, Civil Rights Leaders Say Video Shows Rahim Not Shot In Back By Officers
BOSTON (CBS/AP) – Video of Tuesday's fatal shooting of a man under surveillance by terrorist investigators was shown to local clergy and civil rights leaders Wednesday and they agreed it appears to contradict a relative's claim of what happened.
Usaamah Rahim, 26, was killed in Roslindale after police said he lunged with a military-style knife at officers from the Joint Terrorism Task Force who approached him to question him.
Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans, Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley and U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz met with Boston clergy and civil rights advocates at police headquarters late Wednesday morning to screen that surveillance video.
"What the video does reveal to us very clearly is that the individual was not on the cell phone, the individual was not shot in the back and the information that was reported by others that that was the case is inaccurate," Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League of eastern Massachusetts told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
Watch: Civic Leaders After Seeing Shooting Video
Rahim's brother has disputed the police account of the shooting, claiming Usaamah Rahim was shot in the back three times while he was on his cell phone.
One Boston Muslim leader called the video "inconclusive."
Imam Abdullah Farooq told reporters Wednesday it showed Rahim wasn't shot in the back, but the quality was poor and it wasn't clear whether police had to use deadly force.
Evans said the purpose of the meeting was to be as transparent as possible about what transpired Tuesday.
Williams said he can "150 percent corroborate" the police account of how the officers engaged with Rahim.
Watch: Evans On The Meeting
The meeting was not open to the public or the media.
Investigators say the video will not be released publicly at least until members of Rahim's family have had the opportunity to see it themselves.
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