Ibragim Todashev
On May 22, 2013, the FBI interrogated Ibragim Todashev then shot him six times in the body and one time in the head. The Chechen was being interviewed because of his acquaintanceship with dead Boston bombing suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
As with the other stories surrounding the Boston Marathon Bombing investigation, the story keeps changing. Ibragim Todashev was first reported to have lunged at an FBI agent, then reported to have gone at him with a knife, now is reported as having attacked unarmed. Original reports also had Todashev interviewed in relation to any knowledge he might have of the Boston Marathon Bombings given his acquaintance with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, then in relation to a drug slaying of three in Boston on September 11, 2011, and has finally morphed into the claim by FBI that Todashev had confessed to having committed the triple homicide with Tamerlan Tsarnaev when he lunged at the agent while poised to sign the confession.
Friends and family of Todashev view all elements of this tale as totally untrue, claiming that Todashev was cooperating fully with the FBI, that the FBI was speaking with him solely in connection with the Boston Bombing and that Todashev postponed a long-planned trip to Russia in an effort to fully comply with the FBI’s wishes that he remain for one final interview. His friend and former roommate, Kushen Tamarov, interviewed here, claims that Todashev had a feeling the FBI was going to kill him and he was afraid.
The only indication that Todashev was violent was his arrest on May 4 for having a fight with two men in a parking lot. The picture used by media to depict Todashev is the mugshot from this arrest. Taramov claims that the two men jumped Todashev out of nowhere, he defended himself, left and was later arrested.
Todashev’s father is demanding a trial for the FBI agent, who he claims executed his son. Â Mr. Todashev further claimed that his son, Ibragim, believed that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was set up for the Boston Marathon Bombings. (For more on that subject, see Tsarnaev’s CIA Connections, Who is the Naked Man and What Really Happened in Watertown.)
Officer Richard Donohue
The official story of injured Boston Transit Officer Richard Donohue is that he was the first responder on the scene of the slaying of MIT Officer Sean Collier and that he then went to Watertown to fight it out with the Tsarnaevs. Â Official accounts claim that Donohue was the only cop shot in Watertown, that he was shot with one bullet to the groin, lost 100% of his blood on the scene and had no pulse for 45 minutes. Officer Donohue’s wife was given his wedding ring and badge and was told he was gone, but he was heroically and unexpectedly recuscitated at the hospital.
Original reports differ from this report, however, claiming that Officer Donohue was shot in Cambridge at the same time that Officer Collier was shot. Â The original story was that Officer Collier was lured to the MIT campus and then was shot execution style five times in the body and once in the head in an ambush and, arriving at the scene shortly thereafter, Officer Donohue was shot with a single bullet which severed all three of the arteries in his groin, including his femoral artery.
I don’t know what really happened to Officer Donohue, but I do think it is hard to believe the official story that Donohue, who was the first responder when his friend and former classmate, Sean Collier, was killed on the MIT campus the night of April 18, would have been sent to Watertown to help apprehend the Boston Bombing suspects given all the other police resources that were available.
It is impossible for me to believe, police procedure being what it is, that Officer Donohue, the officer most in a position to aid in the investigation of an ambushed and executed cop, was put in harm’s way, and was in fact nearly killed, while the investigation of Officer Collier’s death was mere minutes old. (Authorities are not claiming that Officer Donohue chased the Tsarnaevs to Watertown, which would have been the only plausible explanation for his being in Watertown that night.)
Further calling into question the story that Donohue was party to the gunfight in Watertown, Watertown Police Chief Ed Deveau reported that the shooting was done exclusively by the six Watertown cops on the scene and that the shooting was over by the time other officers arrived. Â Interim reports had Officer Donohue as the only cop on the scene other than the six Watertown cops–a story that persisted as the official version until recently, despite its ridiculousness. (Why would Boston Transit Officer Donohue alone be “called to the scene” rather than Watertown issuing a general call for back-up?) As evidence surfaced that the bullet in Officer Donohue’s leg came from a government-issued weapon, an alternate story emerged claiming that multiple agencies were engaged in the gun battle in Watertown, and that Officer Donohue was caught in the crossfire.
Officer Donohue himself can shed no light on the events of that night, saying “It could all come back tonight, tomorrow, a year from now, but as of right now it’s all a blackout.”
And whatever happened to…
…Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?
On May 30, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s mother was reported by Bloomberg News as having had a six-minute conversation with her son–the first conversation they have had since his apprehension on April 19.
The last six weeks have been mysterious, however, as the only photo released of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev since his arrest in Watertown is this one of him in the hospital shortly after being admitted. While reports on April 22 claimed that he was on a ventilator and heavily sedated so that he would not pull out his breathing tube, this photo shows Dzhokhar’s many injuries, including a plug in his ear, yet no assistance breathing whatsoever.
If Dzhokhar is alive in this picture (first posted on April 21), he is resting peacefully and breathing easily on his own despite having such serious injuries to his throat that he was at this time expected not to be able to speak again. No pictures have been released since this time, and even Tsarnaev’s lawyer has not been permitted to take photos of him. Â (Has she even met him?)
Is six weeks enough to get someone to imitate a son enough to fool his own mother for six minutes? Are reports of the conversation accurate? Seems like a mother would always be able to recognize her own son, even given her claim that he was hard to hear. For this reason, I’m going to give this story the benefit of the doubt and assume Dzhokhar is alive, though I am eager to witness his first public appearance myself. With all the misinformation in this case produced by the authorities and regurgitated by the media, the burden of proof that the official story and the reporting are accurate is now squarely on them.
Two FBI Agents Dead
The FBI Hostage Rescue Team is the elite group who were called in to take custody of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown on April 19. Two members of this elite force, special agents Christopher Lorek and Stephen Shaw fell to their deaths from a helicopter while training a complex exercise. There have been reports that these two agents were present at the Watertown “shootout” with the unarmed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (wounded and hiding in a boat), but I have not been able to confirm them. (See also: http://rt.com/news/todashev-head-shot-father-009/)
The Donohue story is indeed fishy. I read a different officer was the last to see him and the first to respond, I have to look for that article. Seems like they’re making up the story as they go along. That picture of the man in the hospital looks more like Tamerlan. I think Dzhokhar has longer curly hair. I could be wrong. Thanks for covering the obviously linking story of Ibragim Todashev. I think he was set up in that “road rage” incident so that he would appear to be a violent hothead. They were working up his “legend”.