(CNN) Usaamah Rahim, who was fatally shot after waving a military knife at law enforcement officers in Boston, was originally plotting to behead Pamela Geller, an activist and conservative blogger, law enforcement sources told CNN on Wednesday. 
 
 But Rahim, a 26-year-old security guard who officials believe was radicalized by ISIS and other extremists, decided instead to target the "boys in blue," a reference to police, according to court documents. 
 
 "I can't wait that long," he said of the original beheading plan, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Boston 
 
 Geller drew national attention last month after an off-duty police officer working security thwarted an attack at her organization's contest for Prophet Mohammed drawings in Garland, Texas. She's president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which includes subsidiary programs Stop Islamization of America and Stop Islamization of Nations. 
 
 "They targeted me for violating Sharia blasphemy laws. They mean to kill everyone who doesn't do their bidding and abide by their law voluntarily," Geller told CNN's Erin Burnett after learning of the alleged plot. 
 
 "This is a showdown for American freedom. Will we stand against this savagery or bow down to them and silence ourselves?" 
 
 Geller said that she's had an "army of security" since last month's Texas incident. 
 
 "This is what is required just to show a cartoon in America, 2015," she said. "It's striking. It's devastating, and people need to understand what's at stake. I mean, if we surrender on this point, what will we surrender next?" 
 
 'The easiest target' 
 
 About two hours before Rahim's confrontation Tuesday with officers on a Boston street, he allegedly told an associate he was "going to ... go after them, those boys in blue. 'Cause ... it's the easiest target," the documents say. 
 
 Rahim's alleged associate, David Wright, 25, appeared in U.S. District Court in Boston to face a charge of obstructing a federal investigation by destroying electronic evidence on Rahim's smartphone. A detention hearing was scheduled for June 19 after prosecutors said he was a flight risk. 
 
 Wright allegedly attempted to destroy Rahim's cell phone and conceal evidence of their plans, according to the documents. Wright faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted. 
 
 Rahim purchased three military fighting knives with blades longer than 8 inches on Amazon.com, the court documents said. 
 
 "I just got myself a nice little tool," Rahim allegedly told his associate, according to the court documents. "You know it's good for carving wood and ... carving sculptures." 
 
 In a recorded conversation, the two men are then heard laughing. They apparently share some history. 
 
 Under the alias "Abu Sufyaan," Rahim thanked his nephew, "Dawud Sharif Abdul-Khaliq," an alias of Wright, for witnessing his wedding, according to a 2013 Facebook post 
 
 Wright's attorney called for caution. 
 
 "I would urge the government, the FBI and law enforcement, in investigating this case and related cases, to be as transparent as possible, and in enforcing the law, to abide by the law," Jessica Hedges told reporters. "We have serious concerns about that already." 
 
 24-hour surveillance 
 
 Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said surveillance video shows four or five officers approach Rahim without their weapons drawn. The officers backtrack as he comes after them and gets "close enough to cause imminent harm." They eventually draw their weapons and open fire. 
 
 "We never anticipated what his reaction would be and that he would pull out ... a military knife and approach the officers," Evans said. 
 
 Police released this image of a knife Usaama Rahim allegedly waved at officers before being fatally shot. 
 
 Anti-terrorism authorities had Rahim under 24-hour surveillance, said Vincent B. Lisi, FBI special agent in charge. 
 
 Rahim was a subject of a terror investigation involving suspected Islamist extremists, law enforcement sources said. 
 
 "We believe he was a threat," Evans said. "He was someone we were watching for quite some time." 
 
 The FBI noted a recent change in Rahim's behavior, including social media threats against police, which prompted agents to try to approach him, according to an official. 
 
 Shooting video 
 
 Authorities showed the surveillance video of the incident during an unusual meeting with religious and civil rights leaders in an attempt to allay community concerns about the shooting. 
 
 Rahim was not on the phone at the time of the shooting and was not shot in the back, as had been reported by a relative, according to clergy and civic leaders who met with authorities earlier Wednesday. 
 
 "What the video does reveal to us very clearly is that the individual was not on the cell phone, the individual was not shot in the back and that the information reported by others that that was the case was inaccurate," Darnell Williams, president and chief executive of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said at a news conference with the police commissioner and others. 
 
 Rahim's brother has posted on social media that the suspect was on the phone with their father and was shot three times in the back during the confrontation with police. 
 
 Williams said prosecutors want Rahim's family to see the video before showing it to the public. 
 
 The religious and civic leaders said Rahim appeared to be shot three times -- in the shoulder, abdomen and chest. Police had earlier reported that he was struck two times. 
 
 Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, speaking for the Muslim community, said the video was inconclusive. 
 
 "I don't think that he was shot in the back. ... However we couldn't see clearly at all," he said. 
 
 He added, "We can't say what happened. We weren't there. We do see a very vague video that is not clear as to what transpired. It wasn't at a bus stop. He wasn't shot in the back and there is not detail enough on the video to tell us exactly what happened." 
 
 A third associate 
 
 The FBI-led task force had been watching Rahim and two associates also believed to be radicalized, according to a law enforcement official. Rahim had been monitored for at least a couple of years. Investigators were talking to the associates, and various locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were being searched, officials said. 
 
 The Rhode Island raid was connected to a third person believed to be associated with Wright and Usaamah Rahim, according to two federal law enforcement sources. The third person was connected by more than just an "Internet relationship," one law enforcement source said. The sources did not provide a name for the individual they were investigating. 
 
 The FBI is still investigating whether more people are connected with the three. ||||| BOSTON (AP) — A knife-wielding man killed by the terror investigators who had him under surveillance was confronted because he had bought knives and talked of an imminent attack on "boys in blue," the FBI said Wednesday. 
 
 In this courtroom sketch, David Wright, left, is depicted standing with his attorney Jessica Hedges, right, during a hearing Wednesday, June 3, 2015, in federal court in Boston. Wright was ordered held... (Associated Press) 
 
 Abdullah Faaruuq, Imam of the Mosque for the Praising of Allah, left, speaks to reporters during a news conference as Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, behind center,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Community members and police officials at Boston Police Department Headquarters prepare to see video, Wednesday, June 3, 2015, in Boston, of a fatal police shooting on Tuesday, in the city's Roslindale... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this courtroom sketch, David Wright, second from left, is depicted standing with his attorney Jessica Hedges, right, as Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley presides, left, during a hearing Wednesday, June... (Associated Press) 
 
 Darnell Williams, head of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, left, speaks with reporters during a news conference as Rev. Mark Scott, of the Azusa Christian Community church, right, looks on,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Community members and police officials at Boston Police Department Headquarters prepare to see a video, Wednesday, June 3, 2015, in Boston, of a fatal police shooting on Tuesday, in the city's Roslindale... (Associated Press) 
 
 Usaama Rahim plotted for at least a week to attack police, the FBI said in a complaint against a family member who was arrested Tuesday, the day Rahim was shot to death. On Wednesday, the relative, David Wright, was ordered held on a charge of conspiracy with intent to obstruct a federal investigation. 
 
 The FBI said Rahim, who had previously discussed beheadings, bought three fighting knives and a sharpener on or before May 26 and he told Wright on Tuesday he would begin trying to randomly kill police officers. 
 
 An anti-terror task force of FBI agents and Boston police, faced with an imminent threat, confronted Rahim on a sidewalk and fatally shot him when he refused to drop his knife, authorities said. 
 
 An affidavit written by an FBI agent assigned to Boston's Joint Terrorism Task Force refers to a recorded conversation between Rahim and Wright in which Wright made a comparison to "thinking with your head on your chest." The FBI said that was a reference to Islamic State propaganda videos showing severed heads on the chests of beheading victims. 
 
 The FBI affidavit said Rahim initially told Wright about a plan to behead someone outside Massachusetts. On Sunday, Rahim, Wright and an unidentified man met on a beach in Rhode Island to "discuss their plans," the FBI affidavit said. 
 
 "Wright indicated that he agreed with Rahim's plan and supported it," the affidavit states. 
 
 Authorities searched a home in Warwick, Rhode Island, on Tuesday and Wednesday but wouldn't confirm the search was related to the investigation. They also wouldn't confirm how Rahim, 26, and Wright, 24, are related. 
 
 Early Tuesday morning, Rahim called Wright and told him he had changed his plans and no longer planned to kill someone in another state, the affidavit says. Instead, he said he was going to "go after" the "boys in blue," it says, an apparent reference to police officers. 
 
 During the recorded conversation, Rahim told Wright, "Yeah, I'm going to be on vacation right here in Massachusetts. ... I'm just going to, ah, go after them, those boys in blue. Cause, ah, it's the easiest target and, ah, the most common is the easiest for me," the affidavit says. 
 
 The FBI said the phrase "going on vacation" refers to committing violent jihad. 
 
 Authorities allege that during that conversation, Wright advised Rahim to destroy his smartphone, wipe his laptop computer and prepare his will. 
 
 On Wednesday, authorities moved swiftly to manage perceptions of the shooting, which killed a black man whose family is well known among Muslims and African-Americans in Boston. 
 
 Rahim's mother is a nurse at Boston University. His older brother, Ibrahim Rahim, is a scholar known for preaching after the Boston marathon bombings that violence is anti-Islamic. 
 
 Ibrahim Rahim initially posted a message on Facebook alleging police repeatedly shot his brother in the back while he was on a cellphone calling their father for help. But his version unraveled Wednesday after police showed their video of the confrontation to community leaders. 
 
 Darnell Williams, president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said he could "150 percent corroborate" the police account. The images clearly show that Usaama Rahim "was not on a cellphone and was not shot in the back," Williams said. 
 
 Police Commissioner William Evans said officers confronted Rahim because "military and law enforcement lives were at threat." 
 
 The video, which police did not make available publicly, shows that Rahim menaced the officers with a large military-style knife and they initially backed away before shooting him when he refused to drop it, police said. 
 
 Williams said he's not ready to call the shooting justifiable, and a Boston Muslim leader, Imam Abdullah Faaruuq, said it was unclear from the "inconclusive" video whether police had to use deadly force. 
 
 "They might have approached him in a different way," Faaruuq said. 
 
 Ibrahim Rahim could not be reached for comment Wednesday as he traveled to Boston to bury his brother. 
 
 Usaama Rahim was under investigation after spreading Islamic State propaganda online and communicating with other people about it, said U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee. 
 
 "These cases are a reminder of the dangers posed by individuals radicalized through social media," the Texas Republican said. 
 
 Prosecutor Stephanie Siegmann said Wright posed a serious risk of fleeing or obstructing justice if not held pending a June 19 hearing. Wright's attorney, Jessica Hedges, denied that, saying he has deep roots in the Boston area and an "incredibly loving and supportive family." 
 
 Hedges urged the government to be "as transparent as possible" and "abide by the law" as it investigates this case, saying "we have serious concerns about that already." 
 
 Authorities quickly showed the video to black and Muslim community leaders. The meeting "was all about pulling the community together," Evans said. 
 
 After the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, Ibrahim Rahim described Jihadis who promote terror as "hell-bent on Islam's destruction from within," and he urged fellow Islamic leaders to drive "a mass recall of the rhetoric of hate and to suppress any and all human desire to harm others based on any contrived justification." 
 
 Yusufi Vali, executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, where Usaama Rahim briefly worked as a guard, said Ibrahim Rahim "is a great guy and preaches a very moderate form of Islam." Vali said Usaama Rahim did not regularly pray at the center and did not volunteer there or serve in any leadership positions. 
 
 Boston voter registration records describe Rahim as a student. Other records show he applied for a security guard license in Florida in 2011 but didn't follow through. A spokeswoman said Rahim had worked for CVS since March. 
 
 Rahim's shooting is being investigated by the Suffolk district attorney's office and the FBI, routine for shootings involving police. The Council of American-Islamic Relations said it's monitoring them. The Black Community Information Center, an activist group in Boston, called for the U.S. Department of Justice to lead a more independent review. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Collin Binkley and Phil Marcelo contributed to this report from Boston, and Eric Tucker contributed from Washington. 
 
 ___ 
 
 This story has been corrected to show the FBI alleges only Rahim, not Wright, bought three knives.
– The man shot to death yesterday in Boston with a military-style knife originally planned to go after activist Pamela Geller, reports CNN. (She was the organizer of the Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas that drew an attack claimed by ISIS.) CNN quotes law enforcement sources who say that Usaama Rahim planned to behead Geller but got impatient and decided to go after local police because he saw them as an easier and quicker target. Authorities say that Rahim had been discussing his plans with a relative named David Wright, who has been arrested on charges of obstructing a federal investigation, reports AP. It's not clear how the men are related. "Yeah, I'm going to be on vacation right here in Massachusetts," Rahim says in a recorded conversation with Wright, according to a court affidavit. "I'm just going to, ah, go after them, those boys in blue. Cause, ah, it's the easiest target."