ACLU seeks investigation in death of man linked to Boston bombing

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking investigators in Florida and Massachusetts to look into the death of a Chechen man who was fatally shot while being questioned about his ties to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, according to the Associated Press.

The ACLU in both states called on state authorities on Monday to investigate the role of law enforcement in Ibragim Todashev's death. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice are conducting an internal inquiry of the May 22 shooting, which killed the 27-year-old Russian national.

Todashev was killed in May while being questioned by FBI agents, Massachusetts state troopers and others. Officials originally said Todashev lunged at an FBI agent with a knife. They later said it was no longer clear what happened. 

According to The Boston Globe, the ACLU wants Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Gerald M. Bailey to open an investigation because state and local law enforcement officers were present at the shooting and the group has concerns about the secrecy shrouding the FBI's inquiry.

In a letter to Coakley, Carol Rose, the executive director of the ACLU in Mass., said the state’s residents deserve a "thorough and transparent investigation" by state officials. In the letter Rose said “it seems unlikely that the FBI investigation will meaningfully inform Massachusetts residents about what happened.”

A recent investigation by The New York Times revealed that in the past 20 years, FBI and Justice Department internal investigations nearly always cleared agents of any wrongdoing.

wire services