1:20 p.m.
The Boston police commissioner says “military and law enforcement lives were at threat” from a Boston terror suspect who was fatally shot by authorities.
Commissioner William Evans spoke Wednesday after showing clergy leaders and civil rights advocates a police video of terror investigators’ encounter with 26-year-old Usaama Rahim on Tuesday.
Evans says the video shows the officers “backtracking” as Rahim walked toward them with a knife. Rahim’s brother had earlier claimed that Rahim had been shot in the back three times.
Evans says the meeting was “all about pulling the community together.”
But one Boston Muslim leader called the video “inconclusive.” Imam Abdullah Farooq says 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.
___
1:10 p.m.
The president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts says a video shows a terror suspect killed in Boston was not shot in the back, as his brother had claimed.
Darnell Williams told reporters after viewing the police video Wednesday that 26-year-old Usaama Rahim “was not on a cellphone and was not shot in the back.”
Rahim’s brother, Ibrahim, had posted on Facebook that their father was on the phone with Rahim at the time of the shooting Tuesday and that Rahim was shot in the back three times.
Police had said Usaama Rahim had lunged at members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force with a knife when they approached him.
Williams says he can “150 percent corroborate” the police account of how the officers engaged with Rahim.
___
11:45 a.m.
A Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization is calling for an “independent and thorough” investigation into the fatal shooting of a man under surveillance by terrorist investigators in Boston.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations made the request Wednesday, a day after 26-year-old Usaama Rahim was killed after police say he lunged at members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force with a knife. Police say the task force had approached him to question him about “terrorist-related information.”
CAIR Director Jennifer Wicks says the group also wants the public release of a video that police say shows officers did not have their weapons drawn when they approached Rahim and that they backed up when he initially lunged at them.
Police plan to show the video to civil rights leaders and clergy Wednesday.
___
10:50 a.m.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says the man under surveillance by terrorist investigators in Boston had been spreading Islamic State group propaganda online.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul opened a congressional hearing on terrorism Wednesday in Washington, D.C., with a reference to the fatal shooting of Usaama Rahim in Massachusetts a day earlier.
The Texas Republican says: “These cases are a reminder of the dangers posed by individuals radicalized through social media.”
McCaul says Rahim was being investigated by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force after “communicating with and spreading” IS group propaganda on the Internet.
Rahim was killed Tuesday after police said he lunged with a knife at members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force who approached him to question him.
-Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
___
10:30 a.m.
Boston police plan to show video of the fatal shooting of a man under surveillance by terrorist investigators to clergy leaders and civil rights advocates.
Usaama Rahim was killed Tuesday after police said he lunged with a knife at members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force who approached him to question him.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation says Rahim had been making threats against law enforcement. The official wasn’t authorized to release details and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Police scheduled a meeting Wednesday to show community leaders the video. Rahim’s brother has disputed the police account of the shooting.
Rahim was shot outside a CVS. A spokeswoman said Wednesday that Rahim had worked for CVS since March.