Six weeks after the Boston Marathon bombing, Muslim leaders are renewing calls for more coordinated efforts to combat online radicalization. The suspects in the bombing were apparently influenced by online interactions. At a Washington briefing, Boston imam Suhaib Webb acknowledged that some local Muslims were aware of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s extreme views. He said Islamic leaders must be more proactive in addressing extremism, but he added they must be able to do that without fear of heightened scrutiny from law enforcement:

Imam Suhaib Webb (Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center): “Imams and scholars within the community need to be given some leeway to engage this problem. The fact that the Tsarnaev brother wasn’t able to sit down with an imam and go through counseling, I think, is a problem on our—our community’s fault, our side of the fence. We need to be able to— need to be able to sit down with someone and not worry about being subpoenaed or held as a material witness.”

Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling for an independent investigation after law enforcement officials shot a Tsarnaev acquaintance during an interview in Florida this week. There were conflicting reports over whether the man, who was Muslim, was armed, but the government said he had become violent. CAIR wants a civil rights review.