A newly released surveillance video shows law enforcement’s fatal encounter with Usaamah Rahim, the man who was allegedly plotting to behead a cop in the name of Allah.
Anti-terrorism authorities approached Rahim in Boston on June 2 believing he was planning to carry out a terrorist plot to behead a police officer. When authorities approached Rahim, police say he charged them with a large knife which led them to open fire, killing him.
Knife held by terror suspect Usaama Rahim when he allegedly approached officers before being shot twice. (Boston PD)
Officials say they had been monitoring Rahim for years and that his social media posts demonstrated his devotion to radical Islam. Another man was arrested in connection with the plot.
The video of the incident is difficult to see but shows two officers walk across a parking lot and then back up as another figure, presumably Rahim, moves toward them. Rahim then falls to the ground after at least one figure appears to have a gun outstretched. A school bus passes by near the end of the video.
The video quality is not so good that you can see if there is a knife, but does appear to back up the officers’ account that Rahim came toward them.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley released the video to the public Monday. He made sure to draw a distinction between the investigation into Rahim’s alleged plot and the investigation into the officers’ use of force.
The investigation into the officers’ use of lethal force and the justification is ongoing.
“All the exacting steps we take in a traditional homicide investigation are brought to bear when police in Boston and Suffolk County use lethal force,” Conley said in a press conference. “Every step investigators take is memorialized. If, at the end of an investigation, we or the family of the deceased believe more needs to be done, they’ll go out and do it.”
WBUR created a zoomed version of the video that is easier to see.
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