Boston Police Officer Shoots Man Suspected of Islamic Extremism
The FBI announced Tuesday that a man who had been under constant surveillance by U.S. anti-terrorism authorities was killed by police in Boston, Massachusetts after waiving a knife at police officers.
The man, 26-year-old Usaama Rahim, had reportedly been under 24-hour investigation by the U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force recently after officials said he was exhibiting suspicious behavior on social media that indicated he may be becoming an Islamic extremist.
Rahim had reportedly been on the task force's radar for years, but recently his heightened social media use caused officials to monitor him more closely.
Officials claim they confronted Rahim on Tuesday to discuss his potential involvement with Islamic extremists. It was then that Rahim reportedly pulled a large military knife at the officers and lunged. The police returned fire and killed the suspect.
John Cohen, a former official for Homeland Security, told ABC News on Tuesday that the domestic radicalization of Islamic extremists "represents the newest element of the terrorist threat facing the country, where we have individuals who affiliate with terrorist ideologies but do not coordinate their operational activities with terrorist organizations."
"This poses the most significant counter-terrorism challenge," Cohen added.
According to CNN, the Islamic Society of Boston has said that they have been invited by police officials to view security footage of the incident.
"As religious institutions serving the Boston Muslim community, the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) and Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC) leadership are saddened to hear of the shooting of Usaama Rahim," the statement said. "This tragedy has yielded many important questions that merit additional attention, and while we cannot expect all questions to be answered ... our hope is that greater clarity and transparency will bring some peace to our congregation and the Boston community at large."
