NEW YORK—“No to racial bias,” and “Yes to dignity for all,” read the posters held by community leaders and members from diverse groups on the steps of City Hall.
On Tuesday, city officials joined civil rights leaders, representatives from the Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition (MACLC), Muslim and immigrant organizations, and interfaith groups to voice their concerns over the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) use of a controversial film about Islam and Muslims to train officers working in Muslim communities.
The documentary film, “The Third Jihad,” recently reported on by The Village Voice and described as an “anti-Muslim horror flick,’ was seen as smearing American Muslims and Islam.
The 72-minute film explores the existence of radical Islam in America and depicts Islam and Muslims in an offensive and prejudicial way stated MACLC officials. They claim that using it as part of NYPD training will lead to increased racial and religious profiling.
“We are here today to call upon the police department to right its wrong,” said Councilman Daniel Dromm. “This is a basic civil rights issue.”
“What has been done to malign the Muslim community can be done to any community in New York City,” said Dromm.
Reverend Chloe Breyer from the Interfaith Center of New York echoed this stance of unity.
“We are in this together—Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, and those with no religious tradition. We need each other and it is wrong for anyone, particularly the police, to perpetuate hateful stereotypes that pit communities against each other,” said Breyer.
Present at the event was City University of New York School of Law professor, Ramzi Kassem, who stated that including hateful materials in the NYPD training program was unacceptable because “the stakes are far more serious.”
“We are talking about police officers who are likelier, having received this training, to pull the trigger sooner, than they otherwise might have when faced with Muslims or people who to them look like Muslims. Lives are on the line. And for that reason, we ask our city and our police for accountability,” said Kassem.
The NYPD did not address any of their concerns and demands, stated MACLC representatives. After MACLC sent two letters to the NYPD, and had a meeting with NYPD representatives, they only received a brief letter from Commissioner Raymond Kelly stating that the video was no longer being used.
Speakers at the event highlighted that this was not an isolated incident targeting Islam and the city’s Muslim community.
Advocacy Director at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Udi Ofer, referred to the controversial hearings held by Congressman Peter King, the use of biased instructors and materials, religious profiling, and the radicalization of Muslim communities.
Ofer called upon the “NYPD and Commissioner Kelly to repudiate the stereotyping and singling out of Muslims for scrutiny because of their religious faith.”
He asked the “NYPD to fully explain its role in supporting Congressman Peter King’s hearings into Muslim Americans,” and that the NYPD “must make clear that it rejects religious profiling once and for all.”
Dromm stated that it was not enough to merely stop using the film for NYPD training.
“They need to re-educate the police officers who saw that film and to say to these police officers, ‘We misinformed you about who the members of the Muslim communities are,’” said Dromm.
“Additionally, we need to have community input into what the police department is showing to their recruits so that we know how Muslims are being portrayed in the future,” said Dromm.
Council Members Robert Jackson, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Jumanee Williams, and Charles Barron who were present at the press conference unanimously supported this stance. They called upon the NYPD for greater transparency about its training curriculum and process of selecting materials to train officers about Islam and Muslims.
“We need to be included in the conversations of how our communities are going to be portrayed,” said Mark-Viverito.
On Tuesday, city officials joined civil rights leaders, representatives from the Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition (MACLC), Muslim and immigrant organizations, and interfaith groups to voice their concerns over the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) use of a controversial film about Islam and Muslims to train officers working in Muslim communities.
The documentary film, “The Third Jihad,” recently reported on by The Village Voice and described as an “anti-Muslim horror flick,’ was seen as smearing American Muslims and Islam.
The 72-minute film explores the existence of radical Islam in America and depicts Islam and Muslims in an offensive and prejudicial way stated MACLC officials. They claim that using it as part of NYPD training will lead to increased racial and religious profiling.
“We are here today to call upon the police department to right its wrong,” said Councilman Daniel Dromm. “This is a basic civil rights issue.”
“What has been done to malign the Muslim community can be done to any community in New York City,” said Dromm.
Reverend Chloe Breyer from the Interfaith Center of New York echoed this stance of unity.
“We are in this together—Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, and those with no religious tradition. We need each other and it is wrong for anyone, particularly the police, to perpetuate hateful stereotypes that pit communities against each other,” said Breyer.
Present at the event was City University of New York School of Law professor, Ramzi Kassem, who stated that including hateful materials in the NYPD training program was unacceptable because “the stakes are far more serious.”
“We are talking about police officers who are likelier, having received this training, to pull the trigger sooner, than they otherwise might have when faced with Muslims or people who to them look like Muslims. Lives are on the line. And for that reason, we ask our city and our police for accountability,” said Kassem.
The NYPD did not address any of their concerns and demands, stated MACLC representatives. After MACLC sent two letters to the NYPD, and had a meeting with NYPD representatives, they only received a brief letter from Commissioner Raymond Kelly stating that the video was no longer being used.
Speakers at the event highlighted that this was not an isolated incident targeting Islam and the city’s Muslim community.
Advocacy Director at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Udi Ofer, referred to the controversial hearings held by Congressman Peter King, the use of biased instructors and materials, religious profiling, and the radicalization of Muslim communities.
Ofer called upon the “NYPD and Commissioner Kelly to repudiate the stereotyping and singling out of Muslims for scrutiny because of their religious faith.”
He asked the “NYPD to fully explain its role in supporting Congressman Peter King’s hearings into Muslim Americans,” and that the NYPD “must make clear that it rejects religious profiling once and for all.”
Dromm stated that it was not enough to merely stop using the film for NYPD training.
“They need to re-educate the police officers who saw that film and to say to these police officers, ‘We misinformed you about who the members of the Muslim communities are,’” said Dromm.
“Additionally, we need to have community input into what the police department is showing to their recruits so that we know how Muslims are being portrayed in the future,” said Dromm.
Council Members Robert Jackson, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Jumanee Williams, and Charles Barron who were present at the press conference unanimously supported this stance. They called upon the NYPD for greater transparency about its training curriculum and process of selecting materials to train officers about Islam and Muslims.
“We need to be included in the conversations of how our communities are going to be portrayed,” said Mark-Viverito.
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