BOSTON (
MyFoxBoston.com) -- The family of the terror suspect shot by police on Tuesday, Usaamah Rahim, spoke out Thursday afternoon.
Rahim, who was being monitored by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and had allegedly been
planning to behead police officers, was
shot Tuesday morning after law enforcement agents approached him, and he pulled a large, military-style knife.
If it weren't for the fact that Rahim was Muslim, his aunt said, the words "terrorism" and "ISIS" would not be used, she said.
She went on to say, "I think he felt threatened."
The
family watched the surveillance video of the shooting Thursday evening. After viewing it, Rahim's oldest brother, who once believed his sibling was shot in the back, said, "Boston Strong, God bless America."
The family's lawyer, Ronald Sullivan, confirmed that the family saw the video and said they "have no further comments."
He also said that they look "forward to a thorough and transparent investigation."
The surveillance video will not be released to the public until Rahim has been laid to rest.
Sullivan said the family was unaware of any alleged ties Rahim had to or interest in ISIS. They saw no signs of radicalization in Rahim, according to Sullivan.
Click here for complete coverage of the alleged terror plot.
Rahim's burial is set for Friday and his family has asked the media and public to keep an open mind until the facts have been collected.
Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, of the Mosque for the Praising of Allah, a community member who has seen the surveillance video, said he believed the police could have approached the situation without killing Rahim.
"If they considered him as a very dangerous person, they should've took precautions in approaching him," he said.
Faaruuq said one funeral home rejected accepting Rahim's body because he was a terror suspect.
David Wright, an Everett man who Sullivan identified as Rahim's nephew, was
arrested Tuesday afternoon and arraigned Wednesday in federal court on charges that he obstructed the investigation into Rahim's plot to kill police, by telling Rahim to destroy his cellphone and laptop.
Congressman Stephen Lynch said Rahim has been on federal investigators' radar since 2012.
FOX25 has obtained a copy of his death certificate. A copy of it is attached to this post.
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Usaama Rahim
