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Ibragim Todashev
Ibragim Todashev was shot seven times, including once in the head, by the FBI agent Aaron McFarlane after five hours of interrogation in his own home. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Ibragim Todashev was shot seven times, including once in the head, by the FBI agent Aaron McFarlane after five hours of interrogation in his own home. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Family of Chechen shot dead during interrogation sues FBI for $30m

This article is more than 9 years old
  • Ibragim Todashev was being questioned about links to Boston bomb suspect
  • Agent Aaron McFarlane had history of misconduct complaints as police officer

The family of an unarmed Chechen national who was shot dead in controversial circumstances by an FBI agent at his Florida apartment two years ago announced on Monday they were filing a $30m wrongful death lawsuit against the bureau.

Separate investigations by the Department of Justice and a senior Florida prosecutor concluded that special agent Aaron McFarlane was acting in self-defence when he shot and killed Ibragim Todashev, a friend of the Boston marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, during an interrogation in Orlando in May 2013.

But in legal papers filed by the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) on behalf of Todashev’s family, the FBI is accused of a number of missteps that led to the “illegal” killing, including negligence in hiring an agent with a history of lawsuits against him for misconduct and false arrest.

“We are seeking answers and justice for someone who was shot seven times by an FBI agent in his own home after hours of interrogation,” said Thania Diaz Clevenger, civil rights director for Cair Florida.

“A few key weaknesses in FBI practice are unfortunately highlighted all too well in this case. Beyond our concern for the injustice done to Ibragim and his family, Cair Florida accepted the case for the light it sheds on FBI malpractice and the opportunity it provides to advocate for reform.”

A March 2014 report by Florida state attorney Jeff Ashton, following a months-long investigation into the shooting, concluded that Todashev, a mixed martial arts fighter who trained at the same Boston gym as Tsarnaev, lunged at McFarlane with a metal pole as he was being questioned about a 2011 triple murder in Massachusetts.

The interrogation, which took place at Todashev’s apartment in the presence of two Massachusetts state troopers, had lasted more than five hours and included questions about the Boston bombing and his friendship with Tsarnaev and one of the three murder victims.

That single act of violence, Ashton said, justified the seven shots, including one to Todashev’s head, which McFarlane fired to “halt the immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm”.

But Cair lawyers have publicly questioned the FBI’s account of the incident, stating that Todashev was recovering from knee surgery and was barely able to walk at the time of his death. They also accused the FBI of conducting a campaign of harassment against Todashev and his friends in Orlando, including his girlfriend Tatyana Gruzdeva, who was later deported for an immigration violation.

The group’s principal complaint, however, is that the agency hired McFarlane despite knowing he had a history of misconduct complaints against him during his four years as a police officer in Oakland, California, a decade ago.

Records show that McFarlane was named with another officer in two lawsuits alleging brutality, faced four internal affairs investigations, was accused of falsifying reports and stopped cooperating as a witness in a trial against colleagues accused of beatings and false arrests.

A spokesman for the city of Oakland told the Guardian last year the lawsuits were settled for a total of $32,500 with no admission of liability, and that McFarlane left the department in 2004 on a disability-related pension of $50,450 a year. The FBI hired him as a special agent in 2008.

According to the “notice of claim” filed by Cair on Monday, “given McFarlane’s propensity for misconduct, as evidenced by the lawsuits filed against him, the internal affairs investigations into his conduct, his involvement in falsifying police reports and his receipt of disability funds from the Oakland police department despite his active employment as an FBI agent, the FBI was negligent in hiring McFarlane”.

“The FBI was [also] negligent in its investigation of Todashev’s killing. McFarlane, for example, was never directly interviewed or questioned about the incident by a disinterested investigator,” the document, a forerunner to the formal commencement of legal action, continues.

At the time of his son’s death, Abdul-Baki Todashev accused the FBI of acting like bandits and executioners. He travelled to Orlando from his home in Moscow to demand answers.

In a statement released by Cair on Monday, the Todashev family said: “The murder of our son is unjust and is a result of the FBI’s abuse of their power. Today, together with Cair Florida, we are starting a process that will bring, as we hope, justice to our son, our family, and our world.

“We expect that the FBI agents that murdered our son will be held accountable. We also want to draw public attention to the illegal practices, abuses of power, and civil rights violations by the FBI. As a result, we hope this process will bring changes in policy that will prevent a tragedy like ours from happening to another family.”

An FBI spokesman, Chris Allen, told the Guardian the agency would not comment on pending or active litigation.

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