ACLU Sues FBI, US Attorney for Todashev, Task Force Records
The ACLU of Massachusetts has filed a complaint in the United States District Court of Massachusetts, demanding the FBI and US Attorney Carmen Ortiz release documents related to the Massachusetts Joint Terrorism Task Force. The complaint, filed Thursday afternoon, also asks for records of the FBI’s involvement in the shooting death of Ibragim Todashev.
According to the complaint, the ACLU sent Freedom of Information Act requests to both the FBI and US Attorney’s office on December 9, 2013. The requests asked for records related to the JTTF itself and specifically the task force’s involvement with Todashev, who was shot by FBI agents during an interview in May 2013.
The FBI denied access to the Todashev records in January, saying the release would interfere with the ongoing investigation into Todashev’s death, according to the complaint. There has been no action on the task force portion of the requests, according to the ACLU.
According to the ACLU, the US Attorney’s office confirmed they received the request but provided none of the documents requested.
Boston.com contacted the US Attorney’s office, which did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The FBI declined to comment.
“We’ve been concerned about the JTTF for a while now,’’ said Christopher Ott, spokesman for the ACLU. “This is about transparency and accountability from federal and local law enforcement alike.’’
According to the complaint:
[fragment number=0]
In May 2013, Todashev was killed in his Florida home during an interview with FBI agents and Massachusetts State Police officers. The FBI said Todashev was a friend of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and was confessing to their involvement in a 2011 murder in Waltham when he suddenly attacked the agents in the room. Both the FBI and Florida State Attorney cleared the federal agents of any wrongdoing. The state police were not implicated in the shooting.
In its complaint, the ACLU outlines why they believe more openness about the Todashev case is important:
[fragment number=1]
[fragment number=2]
You can reach Scalese at [email protected] or via twitter @BertoScalese.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com