FBI raids kill imam of Masjid Al-Haqq mosque in Detroit

An FBI investigation a couple years in the making came to a dramatic head Wednesday in Detroit as agents dodged bullets and raided several buildings across the city. One man, a local imam, was killed.

The Detroit police and a special task force from the U.S. Attorney’s Office also reportedly took part in the raids.

The building where Abdullah was reportedly killed, from WXYZ.com.

Local media reported that a dozen men were ultimately charged with various federal crimes. (Check out the Detroit News story here, the Detroit Free Press story here.)

After reportedly refusing to surrender, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a. Christopher Thomas, was shot down. He was the imam of Masjid Al-Haqq mosque in Detroit, and according to a joint statement from the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office, Abdullah was also the 53-year-old local leader of a black Muslim group that calls itself “Ummah,” or the brotherhood.

The group may have connections to prison gangs, and even 1970s-era black separatists.

Predictably, the story has attracted international attention.

The government is alleging that the group seeks to establish a separate state within the United States governed by Islamic sharia law. But the actual charges filed against the men do not include terrorism charges, but instead deal with alleged smuggling and weapons violations.

Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan Council on American-Islamic relations, told the Free Press that the public shouldn’t jump to conclusions because the targets of the raids are Muslim. He also said this of Abdullah:

I know him as respected imam in the Muslim community.

Also, in the Free Press account, there was this detail-packed eye-witness account of one of the raids in Deaborn:

Shadi Saad, the owner of Wellcare Pharmacy on Oakman in Dearborn, said he stepped outside before lunchtime to see several people in FBI jackets with guns going toward the warehouse across the street. He heard noises like shots and a short time later a helicopter descended.

“It was like a movie scene for a minute,” he said. He opened his business, he said, just 10 days ago. “This isn’t the way I wanted it to start.”