FBI Agent Kills Man After Questioning Him About the Boston Marathon Bombing
An FBI special agent shot and killed a man in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday morning, just hours after he was interrogated about the Boston Marathon bombings. The man, who was identified as 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, was reportedly an acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who he met through the world of mixed martial arts. Like Tsarnaev, he was Chechen-born Muslim, but only met Tsarnaev after moving to the United States. Todashev was shot shortly after midnight at an apartment complex about 10 miles from Walt Disney World.
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The FBI only said that an agent "encountered the suspect while conducting official duties. The suspect is deceased," but has not offered any other details.
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Khusn Taramiv, a friend of Todashev, told WESH-TV that they were both interviewed by the FBI for three hours on Tuesday, and the men were asked what they knew about Tsarnaev and were also asked about their political views. Taramiv also claims that Todashev thought that he was being "set up" and expressed concerns that something bad was going to happen to them. Taramiv says they had both been followed by the FBI on more than one occasion since the Boston terrorist attack.
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Todashev has recently been arrested for aggravated assault but his friend says he was attacked in a parking lot and was simply defending himself. Taramiv says his friend has been planning to head home to Chechnya to visit relatives, via New York City, but had canceled the trip due to "pushing" by the FBI.
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The suspect's friend says they are both Muslim, but not radical, and says Todashev does not own a gun. Jon Williams of the BBC reported that the FBI agent conducting the interview shot Todashev, because he felt threatened.