Mourners call for investigation into slain Muslim leader's death

Such calls will grow. The Dearborn Police Department is investigating the shooting now, but Abdullah’s killing has blown up beyond metro Detroit. It could threaten relations between the government and Muslim Americans, and even between the U.S. and Muslim nations -- relations that President Obama has cultivated. Enough is at stake for a national body to investigate whether agents properly targeted Abdullah, or could have avoided killing him. Whether that body is the Justice Department or Congress, or some other outside agency, it must have credibility with all parties.

As I wrote Friday, no one should assume government wrongdoing or impropriety — nor has anyone I’ve talked to in Detroit. Still, there is growing skepticism about what happened during the Wednesday raid, and how the government uses informants to infiltrate Muslim groups. The account now widely held in the community is that Abdullah was shot repeatedly by agents, after he shot an unleashed police dog, despite official reports that Abdullah fired on agents. Because Abdullah was both African American and Muslim, his death has racial and religious overtones, especially among a people who have faced excessive police force throughout their history.