Good riddance

FBI kills leader of radical Muslims; 12 charged

The leader of a local mosque who authorities also are calling the head of an Islamic fundamentalist group was killed in a shootout with federal agents this afternoon during a series of raids that resulted in charges against a dozen men.

Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, leader of the Masjid Al-Haqq mosque in Detroit, is accused in a federal complaint of heading a Sunni Muslim group with a mission of establishing a separate Islamic nation within the United States.

Abdullah, also known as Christopher Thomas, was gunned down after firing on officers as the FBI raided a Dearborn warehouse, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. An FBI canine also was fatally shot. Raids also were conducted in Detroit.

“The eleven defendants are members of a group that is alleged to have engaged in violent activity over a period of many years and known to be armed,” a joint statement from the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

A 12th man was arrested late Wednesday in connection with the investigation. Three of the men charged were at large Wednesday night.

Abdullah and the others were charged with conspiracy to commit several federal felony crimes, including illegal possession and sale of firearms and theft from interstate shipments.

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