FBI threatened friends of slayed Florida Chechen Todashev

[soundsgreat]

The FBI has harassed, threatened and even denied Fifth Amendment rights to friends of an Orlando man agents killed in May who was close to alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday.

Friends of Ibragim Todashev have told the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) that FBI agents have asked them to spy on Orlando-area mosques, threatening arrest if they failed to comply.

/snip/

“It is simply unacceptable for the FBI to continue to question our client and deny his requests to speak with his legal counsel,” CAIR-Florida Civil Rights Director Thania Diaz Clevenger said in a statement. “It fits the pattern of abuse and troubling behavior by FBI agents beginning in the days prior to the killing of the unarmed Ibragim Todashev. One can only wonder if Mr. Todashev was denied his rights to legal council (sic) during the questioning that ultimately resulted in his death."

The group said it has received several corroborating reports from friends of Todashev that FBI agents have threatened to wrongfully arrest them if they do not work with the agency to spy on local mosques, Muslim restaurants and hookah lounges.

http://rt.com/usa/todashev-friends-harassment-muslim-spying-359/

Hmm? The FBI tried to force Chechen Muslims to spy for them? Do I understand that correctly?

[lamp_shade]

1. Curious. Do you consider "rt" a reliable source?

[soundsgreat]

2. Do you consider the Miami Herald a reliable source?

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/25/3650172/group-accuses-fbi-of-harassing.html

Do you think rt has made up the story?

And, as we are at it, dou you think it's okay that the FBI harrasses people to engage them as spies?

[lamp_shade]

3. You answered my question.

[soundsgreat]

4. More from the Miami Herald

FBI spokesmen Paul Bresson said in an email statement that he couldn't comment on ongoing investigations, "including who we interview and why."

"However, anytime the FBI interviews an individual it is done either with his/her consent or with an attorney present," Bresson said.

The civil rights group also alleged that a friend of Todashev who was arrested last week on an unrelated charge was questioned for six hours by FBI agents about Todashev. When Ashurmamad Miraliev was arrested last week, he asked to have an attorney present during questioning but was denied the request, said Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Tampa office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Miraliev later was booked into the Osceola County Jail on a charge of tampering with a witness or informant for an unrelated case.

Attorneys only saw him for the first time on Tuesday, Shilby said.

[pinboy3niner]

6. First, it's an AP story; second, AP is not making those claims, CAIR is

The stories simply report what CAIR said, without corroborating or verifying the substance of the allegations.

[gopiscrap]

5. Fucking god damn law enforcement

has been so out of control for so long.

[soundsgreat]

7. full agreement - they can do what they want nt

[soundsgreat]

8. Todashev's girlfriend arrested and in solitary confinement

Tatiana Gruzdeva, the girlfriend of Ibragim Todashev—the man shot by the FBI just after allegedly implicating himself and marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a 2011 triple murder in Waltham—has been arrested in Florida by Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a collect call from Glades County Jail, where she said she is being held in solitary confinement, Tatiana Gruzdeva said that immigration officers told her she was being deported because of her interviews with Boston magazine.

The Glades County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Gruzdeva is being held in the county jail.

Gruzdeva, 19, said she had gone to sign work papers at the local immigrations office at 11 p.m. Tuesday. She had been waiting for weeks for the work authorization form that would allow her to earn a living. Instead, she said, she was taken aside and arrested. “They said it’s because of interview,” she said. “I’m in the room by myself,” she said repeatedly, crying.

Gruzdeva gave an exclusive interview to Boston magazine on September 18, in which she shared details of Todashev’s last days before being shot by the FBI. She told of learning of his death in May while being held in solitary confinement by immigration officials, part of a months-long detention. She was finally released in August, her visa extended for a year. She also broke the news to Boston magazine that her friend and roommate, Ashurmamad Miraliev—who had also been friends with Todashev—had been arrested and questioned by the FBI.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2013/10/01/tatiana-gruzdeva-arrested-to-be-deported/

[bullwinkle428]

9. Rachel Maddow has done several segments on this story, in which she's

displayed an incredibly skeptical tone regarding the FBI's actions, to the point of openly mocking them. I'm honestly not surprised by allegations of dirty behavior on their part as a way to bury all the potential evidence.

[gopiscrap]

10. BTW: Welcome to DU

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. Is that a correct use of "slayed?"

Shouldn't it be "slain?"