I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s office finally released the autopsy of Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the Detroit area Imam who was gunned down during an FBI raid in October on a warehouse in Dearborn. The Michigan Messenger and several other news outlets had filed a Freedom of Information Act request in November for the autopsy, but the report was withheld by the county at the request of the Dearborn Police Department.
Activists and the media have argued that withholding the report would only breed more suspicion of the government’s actions in the case; the results of the autopsy will likely not quell those suspicions. The report shows that Abdullah was shot 21 times in the course of a few seconds and died instantly.
Perhaps the most curious fact of all is that the Wayne County medical examiner has confirmed the rumors, first reported by Abdullah’s son, that his body had arrived at the coroner’s office in handcuffs.
An investigator with Schmidt’s office reported that when she arrived at the shooting scene, Abdullah’s body was lying in the bottom of a truck trailer. “She said his hands were cuffed behind his back,” Schmidt said. He couldn’t say when Abdullah was restrained, or if his body had been moved to the trailer after death.
That fact is sure to provoke questions. Why would the police handcuff a man who is already dead? The autopsy confirms that he died instantly of his gunshot wounds. The alternative — that he was handcuffed before being shot — would obviously be an incredibly explosive allegation that would provoke a serious scandal.
I suspect the release of this autopsy is just the beginning of this story, not the end.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter