NEW YORK—Muslims residing in the New York area will release a report on March 11 about the impact of NYPD surveillance on Muslims in the region.
The NYPD undertook extensive surveillance of Muslims in the New York area in a partnership with the CIA that targeted ethnic communities, according to a probe by the Associated Press. The media published a series of articles detailing the surveillance, as well as documents that are stamped for internal NYPD use only.
Members of the American Muslim community intend to unveil groundbreaking information about how the surveillance affected community members, according to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
“The report details how the NYPD’s extensive spying program creates a pervasive climate of fear and suspicion that encroaches upon every aspect of American Muslims’ lives, and severs the essential relationship of trust that should exist between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are charged with protecting,” the group states in a release.
[Related: Poll Reveals Majority Approve NYPD’s Treatment of Muslims]
“This report is critically important reading for all Americans concerned with freedom, justice, and equality in 21st century America,” said Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, chair of the Majlis Ash-Shura (Islamic Leadership Council) of Metropolitan New York, in a statement. “It is the authentic voice of real people impacted by unjust policies and procedures, for which Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly remain both defensive and un-apologetic.”
