CAIR to Call for Probe of Secret NYPD-CIA Program to Spy on Muslims

AP investigation reveals CIA links to widespread monitoring of Muslim communities

NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Later today, the New York and New Jersey chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY/CAIR-NJ) will hold a news conference in Manhattan to call on the Department of Justice to open an investigation into allegations that the New York Police Department (NYPD) is conducting a massive covert program to monitor the Muslim communities in those states.

Exposed this morning in a major media report, the NYPD spy program is allegedly being conducted with the assistance of individuals linked to the CIA.

WHAT: CAIR-NY/NJ News Conference to Call for DOJ Probe of NYPD-CIA Spy Program
WHEN: Wednesday, August 24, 2 p.m.
WHERE: 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 244, New York, NY
CONTACT: CAIR-NY Civil Rights Manager Cyrus McGoldrick, 203-206-6883, 212-870-2002, E-Mail: [email protected]; CAIR-NJ Executive Director James Yee, 908-938-5990; E-Mail: [email protected]; CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, E-Mail: [email protected]

Following a months-long investigation, The Associated Press (AP) revealed that the NYPD is using covert surveillance techniques "that would run afoul of civil liberties rules if practiced by the federal government" and "does so with unprecedented help from the CIA in a partnership that has blurred the bright line between foreign and domestic spying."

According to the AP investigative report: "The [NYPD] has dispatched teams of undercover officers, known as 'rakers,' into minority neighborhoods as part of a human mapping program, according to officials directly involved in the program. They've monitored daily life in bookstores, bars, cafes and nightclubs. Police have also used informants, known as 'mosque crawlers,' to monitor sermons, even when there's no evidence of wrongdoing. NYPD officials have scrutinized imams and gathered intelligence on cab drivers and food cart vendors, jobs often done by Muslims. Many of these operations were built with help from the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans but was instrumental in transforming the NYPD's intelligence unit."

SEE: With CIA Help, NYPD Built Secret Effort to Monitor Mosques, Daily Life of Muslim Neighborhoods (AP)
http://tinyurl.com/3armydn

"These revelations send the message to American Muslims that they are being viewed as a suspect community and that their constitutional rights may be violated with impunity," said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "The Justice Department must initiate an immediate investigation of the civil rights implications of this spy program and the legality of its links to the CIA."

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

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CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, or 202-488-8787, E-Mail: [email protected]; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations