National Lawyers Guild Calls for Investigation Into Assassination

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2009
11:05 AM

CONTACT: National Lawyers Guild (NLG)
Paige Cram, Communications Coordinator, 212-679-5100, ext. 15,
communications@nlg.org

National Lawyers Guild Calls for Immediate and Independent
Investigation Into Assassination of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah by FBI
Agents in Dearborn

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/11/02-7

NEW YORK - November 2 - The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) calls for an
immediate and independent investigation into the FBI's fatal shooting
on October 28 of Islamic leader Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah in
Dearborn, Michigan. The FBI killed him during a series of raids of
the Masjid Al-Haqq Mosque by federal and local law enforcement
officials in which 11 others were arrested. While mainstream media
outlets are calling the killing and arrests a counter-terrorism
operation, the raids arose out of criminal complaints containing no
specific allegations of violations of federal law or acts of terrorism.

All reports from local residents and community leaders indicate that
Imam Abdullah and Mosque members were dedicated to improving the
community, feeding hungry neighborhood residents and helping young
people in need, even letting many sleep in the mosque during inclement weather.

By publicizing the killing and arrests as related to terrorism,
absent any such allegations in the complaint, the FBI seems to be
engaging in the same tactics used in its Counter Intelligence Program
(COINTELPRO), in which it spied on, infiltrated and disrupted
political movements. Imam Abdullah had a close relationship with Imam
Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, was a field
organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
and later served as national chairman of the Black Panther Party (BPP).

The FBI and mainstream media blamed the organizing work of SNCC for
the urban rebellions in over 200 cities in the late 1960s. The Black
Panther Party was COINTELPRO's primary target, but it targeted a vast
array of others, including Martin Luther King. In light of these
events, we cannot trust the claim that COINTELPRO has been abandoned.
Many have been imprisoned on spurious charges-Al-Amin, for example,
maintains his innocence in the deaths of Atlanta law-enforcement
officers and has sought an appeal of his case. Reports indicated that
he has been harassed and placed in isolation in the Georgia prison
system. Over two dozen BPP members were killed by law enforcement
between 1968 and 1971.

The National Lawyers Guild advocated on behalf of, and represented,
members of the BPP and other political organizations. The FBI tried
to have the Guild labeled as a subversive organization, and for many
years spied on and infiltrated the association and its individual members.

Guild president David Gespass said, "It took more than twenty years
to prove in court that Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were targeted and
murdered by the FBI and Chicago police. We cannot wait that long for
the truth of what happened to Imam Abdullah."
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The National Lawyers Guild is dedicated to the need for basic and
progressive change in the structure of our political and economic
system. Through its members--lawyers, law students, jailhouse lawyers
and legal workers united in chapters and committees--the Guild works
locally, nationally and internationally as an effective political and
social force in the service of the people.

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