Last night, FBI and law enforcement agents were questioning Ibragim Todashev, 27, about his knowledge of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev when one of them shot Todashev. According to MSNBC, "He was cooperative at first, they say, but late Tuesday night, he attacked the agent, who shot and killed him."
A friend of Todashev, Khusn Taramiv, told Wesh.com both he and Todashev were interviewed by the FBI for nearly three hours on Tuesday, due to their MMA connection to Tsarnaev.
"(The FBI) took me and my friend, (Ibragim Todashev). They were talking to us, both of us, right? And they said they need him for a little more, for a couple more hours, and I left, and they told me they’re going to bring him back. They never brought him back," Taramiv said.
"He felt inside he was going to get shot," Taramiv said about Todashev. "I told him, 'Everything is going to be fine, don't worry about it.' He said, 'I have a really bad feeling.'"
Todashev was not a suspect, but was being questioned for information about Tsarnaev, who died during the shoot-out days after the marathon attacks. Acording to MSNBC, "The officials say Todashev had some connections with radical Chechen rebels, but they say it's not clear whether he had any role in radicalizing Tsarnaev."
The New York Timesreports that the FBI has questioned "many members of the small community of ethnic Chechens in the United States," adding:
Repeatedly since April 29, agents have interviewed a Chechen refugee and former rebel fighter, Musa Khadzhimuratov, of Manchester, N.H. Tamerlan Tsarnaev used a firing range in Manchester to practice shooting and bought fireworks in New Hampshire to extract the explosive powder used in the marathon bombs.
Mr. Khadzhimuratov, 36, and his wife, Madina, 32, say they had only brief social visits with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, including one a few weeks before the bombing. They say they knew nothing about his purchase of fireworks or guns and had no hint that he was plotting the Boston attack.
Now, some advocates within the Chechen community are concerned that Russian intelligence officials may be directing the FBI to target Chechens in the US who might be hostile to Russia, but are not by any means terrorists.