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For Immediate Release
July, 22 2013, 04:38pm EDT
Contact:
Raquel Ronzone, Communications Specialist, 617-482-3170 x335, rronzone@aclum.org
Amy Turkel, ACLU of Florida Communications Director, 786-363-2722, aturkel@aclufl.org
ACLU Calls on State Officials to Launch Independent Investigations into FBI Shooting Death of Ibragim Todashev
Role of Massachusetts State Police and Orlando PD Should be Focus in Shooting Death of Man Linked to Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect & Waltham Triple Homicide
BOSTON and ORLANDO
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts and ACLU of Florida today called upon officials in their respective states to conduct independent investigations into the shooting death of Ibragim Todashev, who was killed by law enforcement officers on May 22nd during a joint interrogation by FBI officials and local law enforcement officers from Massachusetts and Florida.
In a letter to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, the ACLU of Massachusetts urged the AG to assign the state Civil Rights Division the task of investigating the role of Massachusetts State Police in the shooting death. The ACLU of Florida simultaneously issued a request to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to conduct an investigation into the role of Orlando police officers in the incident.
Two Massachusetts state troopers, along with Orlando police officers, were present with FBI officers during the interrogation of Todashev at his home in Orlando, Florida on May 22 during which he was shot to death. There are conflicting reports as to whether the Massachusetts troopers were in the room at the time of the shooting and whether their purpose at the interrogation was to investigate the Boston Marathon bombings, a 2011 triple-homicide in Waltham, or something else. The role of the Orlando police officers is even more unclear.
Notwithstanding the involvement of state personnel in questioning Todashev, and an earlier call by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for an independent investigation into the shooting death, public reports indicate that the only investigation into Todashev's shooting is being led by the FBI.
The FBI's approach, meanwhile, has fostered widespread public distrust. Immediately after the shooting, the FBI released a statement claiming that Todashev had initiated "a violent confrontation," and press reports cited anonymous law enforcement officials who made statements seemingly in support of that claim. But subsequent statements have offered contradictory reports. Initially, it was reported that either an FBI agent or another law enforcement official shot Todashev after he attacked an FBI agent with a knife or other sharp object. Then new stories emerged, asserting that Todashev lunged at the FBI agent with a metal pole or broomstick, or that Todashev overturned a table, or that he was actually unarmed.
"A person was shot and killed at the hands of law enforcement in Florida. That alone should require Florida officials to investigate, and explain to the public what happened," said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida Executive Director.
"Florida officials are simply deferring to the FBI, allowing the FBI to investigate itself, but it is difficult to accept the FBI's honesty in this matter. The FBI has offered completely incompatible explanations, they have failed to explain how these inconsistent stories found their way into newspaper accounts of the shootings, and have not offered any clarifying comment about what really happened," Simon added. "Due to the widely varying explanations that have surfaced about the shooting and the involvement of Massachusetts and Florida law enforcement, officials in both states should conduct their own investigations."
Public skepticism in the FBI's ability to investigate itself was heightened when the The New York Times reported on June 19 that public records obtained through litigation showed that between 1993 and 2011, F.B.I. agents fatally shot an estimated 70 "subjects" and wounded about 80 others, but that FBI internal shooting investigations deemed every one of those episodes to be "justified."
"Recent disclosures in The New York Times show that FBI shooting investigations, even when carried out with ostensible oversight of both the Justice Department's inspector general and the Civil Rights Division, virtually always clear the agency of wrong-doing," said Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. "Secrecy surrounding the FBI's investigation of the Todashev shooting has deepened the public's mistrust."
Already in this investigation, the FBI has gagged the medical examiner from divulging the cause of death, the federal government has taken steps to detain and press for the speedy deportation of a potential witness in the investigation of the shooting, and, to the best of our knowledge, the FBI's final report will be classified.
"An independent investigation is necessary to maintain public confidence in law enforcement and get to the bottom of the events surrounding Todashev's death," she added.
Todashev's shooting death also raises concerns regarding accountability for local police assigned to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) program, which the ACLU and other civil liberties groups have voiced for years. According to news reports, at least one of the Massachusetts state troopers was assigned to the regional JTTF.
"Since 2001, the number of local law enforcement officers assigned to the JTTF has more than quadrupled," said Rose. "Yet the citizens of the various states who pay their salaries have no idea how they are supervised or even what, precisely, they are doing. It's time to impose some accountability on local law enforcement who are assigned to FBI-JTTF operations in general."
A copy of the letter ACLU of Florida letter is available here: https://aclufl.org/resources/letter-to-florida-department-of-law-enforcement-regarding-the-death-of-ibragim-todashevpdf/
A copy of the letter ACLU of Massachusetts letter is available here: https://aclufl.org/resources/aclu-of-massachusetts-letter/
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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Senate GOP Faces Fresh Pressure After House Vote for Affordable Care Act Subsidies
"Today's vote represents a glimmer of hope for the 22 million Americans desperately trying to hold onto affordable health coverage for themselves and their families," said one campaigner.
Jan 08, 2026
US Senate Republicans are under renewed pressure to restore the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits after 17 GOP members of the House of Representatives helped Democrats pass legislation to extend the recently expired ACA subsidies by three years.
The 230-196 vote—in which five Republicans did not participate—came after GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Michael Lawler (NY), Rob Bresnahan (Pa.), and Ryan Mackenzie (Pa.) broke with their party's leadership last month and signed a Democratic discharge petition that allowed the bill's backers to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Joining those four Republicans and all House Democrats on Thursday were GOP Reps. Mike Carey (Ohio), Monica De La Cruz (Texas), Andrew Garbarino (NY), Jeff Hurd (Colo.), David Joyce (Ohio), Thomas Kean Jr. (NJ), Nick LaLota (NY), Max Miller (Ohio), Zachary Nunn (Iowa), Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.), David Valadao (Calif.), Derrick Van Orden (Wis.), and Rob Wittman (Va.).
"Despite Speaker Johnson's best efforts to block legislation to extend the ACA tax credits—Democratic leadership forced a vote and it passed!" declared Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.). "The Senate must immediately follow our lead to lower costs for millions of Americans who are seeing their premiums skyrocket."
Senators also celebrated the development and called for a vote in their GOP-controlled chamber.
"Finally after we pushed this for a year!" said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), noting that 17 House Republicans helped advance the bill. "The Senate must vote on it ASAP to lower costs for tens of millions of Americans."
Over 20 million Americans face soaring premiums because of the lapsed subsidies, and some people are forgoing health insurance coverage because of the new rates—which have surged alongside other rising costs tied to President Donald Trump's agenda.
"At a time when millions of Americans are being crushed under the weight of higher healthcare prices and cost-raising tariffs, this vote to bring back the healthcare tax credits is a testament to thousands of constituents nationwide who never let their members of Congress off the hook," said Unrig Our Economy campaign director Leor Tal.
"Now, we are taking this fight to the Senate," Tal continued. "Just like in the House, Senate Republicans have a choice—either stand with your constituents or vote to raise their healthcare costs exponentially. The answer should be clear."
While similarly welcoming the House passage, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin also called out the majority of Republicans in the chamber who opposed the bill, arguing that they "have once again chosen to abandon working families."
"Millions of everyday Americans have already seen their healthcare premiums skyrocket, and what are Donald Trump and Republicans doing to help? Not a damn thing," Martin said. "They already gutted Medicaid while handing out massive tax cuts to billionaires—and now they see no problem with allowing costs to skyrocket even more. House Democrats fought tooth and nail to pass this bill, and now the Senate must come to the table and extend the tax credits—it's time to stop screwing around with Americans' healthcare."
As the Associated Press reported:
A small group of senators from both parties has been working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said that for any plan to find support in his chamber, it will need to have income limits to ensure that the financial aid is focused on those who most need the help. He and other Republicans also want to ensure that beneficiaries would have to at least pay a nominal amount for their coverage.
Finally, Thune said there would need to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.
Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group Families USA, said Thursday that the House "discharge petition and vote put pressure on the president and the Republican congressional leadership to stop with the poison pills and procedural barriers and extend the enhanced tax credits so Americans can afford coverage."
"Millions of Americans began the new year facing staggering increases in their monthly health insurance premiums—in many cases seeing health costs double overnight," he noted. "This sudden spike, of more than $1,000 on average, is not just a shock—it's a breaking point. Without action, an estimated 4 million marketplace enrollees are expected to go uninsured, and many millions more will become underinsured, paying more and getting less."
"Today's vote represents a glimmer of hope for the 22 million Americans desperately trying to hold onto affordable health coverage for themselves and their families," he said. "Congress should not have needed a discharge petition to force a vote on something so overwhelmingly supported by the public and so essential to the health and financial security of American families. Every day we delay does further damage, so it's urgent for the Senate to stand with the 77% of voters who want to see a clean extension passed."
Wright also stressed that "with open enrollment ending in most states in just six days, families are being forced to make impossible choices in real time. Doing nothing is a choice to price out and push millions to lose coverage, rack up debt, and go without care. The Senate must now do its job and deliver the relief American families urgently need."
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) president Lee Saunders also took aim at the Senate on Thursday, saying that "the cost-of-living crisis is an unaffordable and unsustainable reality for millions of people, and it's getting worse."
"Thankfully, pro-worker lawmakers in the House voted today to restore the Affordable Care Act premium credits—a lifeline helping tens of millions of families afford healthcare," he said. "These tax credits also help keep costs lower for everyone else on health insurance—supporting them should be a no-brainer. We call on the Senate to act quickly and restore these tax credits. Working families are counting on them."
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Trump Quits Key Treaties Amid 'Increasingly Deadly and Expensive' Weather Disasters
"The Trump regime is sending a clear message to the world that the US refuses to take responsibility for its own actions," said one campaigner.
Jan 08, 2026
President Donald Trump's withdrawal of the United States from dozens of international treaties and organizations and his administration's cuts to climate research and emergency response come as the frequency, lethality, and cost of major extreme weather disasters grow, according to an analysis published Thursday.
The Climate Central analysis of billion-dollar US weather and climate disasters revealed that 2025 saw the third-highest annual number of such events, trailing only the two previous years. At least 276 deaths and $115 billion in damages are attributable to such disasters.
This analysis also came as California observed the one-year anniversary of wildfires that killed 31 people and caused billions of dollars in damages, making them among the most expensive wildfires on record.
The new research is the first update of Climate Central's US Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, which was launched last October. The resource will help fill an information void caused by the Trump administration's move in May ending updates to the government's own database that tracked climate disasters causing more than $1 billion in damage.
After the US admin cancelled the $B Climate + Weather Disaster dataset, @climatecentral.org hired the scientists who ran it and set it back up. Now the 2025 numbers are in: it's 3rd highest year on record and highest year w/o land-falling hurricanes. More: www.climatecentral.org/climate-serv...
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— Katharine Hayhoe (@katharinehayhoe.com) January 8, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Key findings of Climate Central's update include:
- The past three years rank highest for the annual number of billion-dollar disasters: 2023 (28 events), 2024 (27 events), and 2025 (23 events);
- The number of billion-dollar severe storms set a new record in 2025, with 21 such events, reflecting near-record numbers of damaging high wind and tornado reports during the spring and summer of 2025;
- A billion-dollar drought affected the western US in 2025, and was primarily driven by heat, rather than by a lack of precipitation; and
- The catastrophic flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country in July 2025 was one of the deadliest inland floods in US history—even though it did not even result in economic losses of $1 billion.
"This trend of increasingly deadly and expensive disasters is occurring as the Trump administration continues to defund and cut staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the nation’s foremost science agency whose mission includes tracking and studying weather and climate, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that prepares for, responds to, and helps communities recover from disasters," the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said Thursday in response to the new research.
Additionally, Trump on Wednesday signed a legally dubious executive order under which the US will become the first country to ever quit the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the parent treaty serving as the foundation for international accords including the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement.
Trump's order also pulls the US from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Renewable Energy Agency & International Solar Alliance, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and numerous other agreements and organizations, even as the human-caused climate emergency worsens.
Experts stress that this is the opposite of what governments should be doing amid a worsening planetary crisis.
“As a nation, we must invest much more in resilience measures as well as sharply cut the heat-trapping emissions driving climate change," UCS Climate and Energy program senior policy director Rachel Cleetus said Thursday. "This administration has instead clawed back funding for climate resilience projects, politicized disaster aid, and is doing its utmost to boost fossil fuels and worsen the climate crisis. Congress must step up to oppose these harmful actions and help keep people safe.”
Basav Sen, a climate leader at the Institute for Policy Studies, on Thursday noted that the US is "the world’s largest cumulative greenhouse gas emitter, and the largest producer and exporter of oil and gas today."
"By walking away from the UNFCCC and the IPCC," Sen added, "the Trump regime is sending a clear message to the world that the US refuses to take responsibility for its own actions."
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'We'll Hit Them Very Hard': Trump Threatens Iran Again as Protest Death Toll Rises
Critics pointed out that Trump has often endorsed violence against protesters when they opposed him.
Jan 08, 2026
President Donald Trump doubled down on his threats to attack Iran on Thursday in response to its government's increasingly violent crackdown on ongoing protests.
"If they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots—they have lots of riots—if they do it, we're going to hit them very hard," he said.
Addressing the Iranian people, he added: "You must stand up for your right to freedom. There is nothing like freedom. You are a brave people. It’s a shame what’s happening to your country."
The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported on Thursday that Iranian security forces have killed at least 45 protesters since demonstrations against the regime began in late December. Wednesday was the bloodiest day yet, with 13 people reportedly killed.
On Thursday, Iranian authorities shut down internet access for the population, which has limited the flow of information in and out of the country.
The protests kicked off in response to the sudden collapse in the value of Iran's currency, the rial, which exacerbated the country's already spiraling cost-of-living crisis, heightening inflation and putting many basic goods out of reach for many Iranians.
This economic crisis has been shifted into hyperdrive since Trump returned to office last year and re-implemented his “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran, including more severe economic sanctions and a 12-day war in June during which the US struck several Iranian nuclear sites. Over the past year, the average cost of food has increased by 70%, while the cost of medicine has increased by 50%.
The rial has lost 95% of its value since 2018, when Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear agreement with Iran, which included sanctions relief.
Last Friday, just one day before he bombed Venezuela as part of an operation to overthrow its leader Nicolás Maduro and seize the nation's oil reserves, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "if Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go."
On Tuesday, US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a leading proponent of regime change, warned Iran's leaders that "if you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life—Donald J. Trump is going to kill you." Just days before, Graham said that Iran's "weakened" state was thanks in part to Trump's efforts to "economically isolate" the country.
Iran has blamed the unrest on "interference in Iran’s internal affairs” by the United States. The nation's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has urged authorities to exhibit the “utmost restraint” in handling protesters. But earlier this week, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini said "rioters" must be "put in their place," while a top judge accused demonstrators of being agents of the US and Israel.
The latest swell of protests began after Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince and son of Iran's former US-backed shah, called for demonstrators to take to the streets. On Thursday, Pahlavi, who has lived most of his life in the US after the royal family was run out of Iran during the 1979 revolution, met with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Critics pointed out that Trump has often endorsed violence against protesters when they opposed him. Just a day before he issued his latest threat, he defended a federal immigration agent who fatally shot an unarmed mother in Minneapolis, while members of his administration falsely described her as a "domestic terrorist."
He has previously advocated for the US military to be deployed to use force against protesters and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell peaceful protests, including the No Kings demonstrators who mobilized nationwide in October.
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