The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has sued the FBI and U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, seeking records it claims shed light on how the bureau works with state and local police. Among those records are documents concerning the Massachusetts Joint Terrorism Task Force and Ibragim Todashev, the mixed martial arts fighter who was shot and killed last May by an FBI agent while being questioned about his ties to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
In a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, the ACLU outlines Freedom Of Information Act requests it sent last December to both the FBI and the U.S. Attorney. The ACLU claims that it "sought documents relating to the structure of the Massachusetts JTTF; (2) the types and numbers of investigations and assessments done by the Boston FBI Field Office; and (3) the FBI's involvement with Ibragim Todashev." The ACLU writes that its request for the Todashev records was denied by the FBI, and that the U.S. Attorney has not yet responded to any of its requests.
When contacted by WGBH News, both the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on the complaint.
This is far from the first court action the ACLU has brought against the FBI concerning the JTTF and its work with local law enforcement. Among the documents the ACLU has previously obtained is this JTTF memorandum of agreement that outlines the JTTF's mission and organizational structure.
Read the complaint:
