SurveillanceNew York City settles Muslim surveillance lawsuits
The NYPD has been agreed not to conduct surveillance based on religion, race, and ethnicity after charges that it had illegally monitoring Muslims in New York City. The city has agreed to settle two civil rights lawsuits for illegally monitoring its Muslim community following the September 11 attacks. As part of the settlement, in which the city does not admit to any wrongdoings, the city will appoint a civilian to monitor the NYPD’s counterterrorism unit.
NYPD settles lawsuits, will cease surveillance of mosques // Source: umich.edu
The NYPD has been agreed not to conduct surveillance based on religion, race, and ethnicity after charges that it had illegally monitoring Muslims in New York City.
The city has agreed to settle two civil rights lawsuits for illegally monitoring its Muslim community following the September 11 attacks. The Independent reports that as part of the settlement, in which the city does not admit to any wrongdoings, the city will appoint a civilian to monitor the NYPD’s counterterrorism unit.
The New York Times reports before Thursday’s agreement, undercover officers would be sent to mosques to record sermons, build records on worshipers, and inquire onto – and document — the politics of people in attending services.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday that the city’s Muslim residents “are strong partners in the fight against terrorism, and this settlement represents another important step toward building our relationship with the Muslim community.”
“Our city’s counterterrorism forces are the best in the world, and the NYPD will continue working tirelessly to keep our city safe in the fight against terror while respecting our residents’ constitutional rights.”
The NYPD disbanded its Demographics Unit, the unite which conducted the surveillance of Muslims, in 2013.
“Not one single piece of actionable intelligence ever came out of that unit in its years of existence,” NYPD commissioner William Bratton told reporters when asked why Mayor de Blasio had ended the program.
“I’m tired. This keeps coming up over and over again in the tabloids. Let’s get real about the issue,” Commissioner Bratton told reporters in November 2015. “It’s urban legend. It’s urban myth.”
Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project and council for one of the plaintiffs, applauded Thursday’s announcement on Twitter.
“This watershed settlement puts constraints on law enforcement’s discriminatory and unjustified surveillance of Muslims.”
