On Tuesday, a Florida prosecutor announced that the agent would not face charges, saying he acted in self-defense after Todashev, a mixed martial arts fighter from the Russian republic of Chechnya, heaved a coffee table at the agent and charged him and a trooper with a long red pole.
“There was no doubt in my mind that Todashev intended to kill both of us,” the agent, who was not identified, told investigators.
The report, released by Orlando-area State Atty. Jeffrey Ashton, includes hundreds of pages documenting his investigation, providing a rare window on the sort of inquiry the FBI usually handles in secret. Also on Tuesday, top FBI officials said their internal review had cleared the agent.
The shooting has been a source of controversy for the bureau, which has had a fraught relationship with the Muslim community since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. After Todashev’s death, the FBI issued confusing and what appeared to be conflicting accounts of what happened, and even the new report does not explain why the FBI may have suspected Tsarnaev in the Waltham killings.
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