Lawsuit filed against NYPD

Visit our News page June 11, 2012 Lawsuit filed against NYPD NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly The New Jersey Attorney General’s office recently completed an investigation of the New York Police Department’s surveillance program. It concluded the NYPD did nothing wrong. And while Muslims like Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, who oppose groups like CAIR, have come out in support of the NYPD, other Muslims are continuing to allege the NYPD’s tactics are unconstitutional. See the post from Jihad Watch below. Suit against NYPD asks that surveillance of Muslims based on faith be declared unconstitutional http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/06/suit-against-nypd-asks-that-surveillance-of-muslims-based-on-faith-be-declared-unconstitutional.html Islamic jihadists murder and terrorize other people based on their faith, but it is not permissible for Infidel authorities to take that into account. By actions like this one, Islamic supremacists in the U.S. are determined to end all effective resistance to their jihad. More on this story. "Suit against NYPD asks that surveillance of Muslims based on faith be declared unconstitutional," by James Queally for The Star-Ledger, June 6 (thanks to Benedict): NEWARK — The New York Police Department's years-long surveillance of Muslim businesses and mosques throughout the Northeast denigrated the Islamic faith and violated the constitutional rights of countless Muslim-Americans, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Newark today. The suit, which is the first legal challenge of the NYPD's spy operations, could mark the beginning of a historical movement, said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, the civil rights group filing the suit on behalf of several New Jersey residents. "This lawsuit is perhaps the most important legal challenge brought to date by American Muslims," Khera said. The eight plaintiffs are all Muslims from New Jersey and include a U.S. Army reservist, a Newark business owner who served in Vietnam and the imams of several mosques who were targeted by the NYPD Surveillance and Demographics unit. The suit is calling for a "declaratory judgment" which labels specific surveillance of Muslims based on faith unconstitutional, said Glenn Katon, the legal director for Muslim Advocates. Katon is also seeking a court order prohibiting the NYPD from future surveillance of Muslims based on faith and the destruction of all records compiled by the NYPD during its spy operations. "When the NYPD says all Muslims are suspects we have a clear case of government denigrating religion," Katon said. The OIC is trying to pressure Western countries to criminalize "denigration of religion." Katon said that while the lawsuit is focused on New Jersey residents, further legal action could involve New York residents as well. Muslim Advocates considered including Newark police in the lawsuit, but ultimately there were too many conflicting reports about the extent of their involvement in NYPD operations in New Jersey. All eight plaintiffs were New Jersey residents that were in one way or another watched during NYPD's operations including at least two members of Rutgers' Muslim Student Association. In the month since the Associated Press released a 50-page document detailing the NYPD's actions in Newark, several Muslim leaders in New Jersey have spoken out on the ways the report has had a "chilling effect" on the Muslim community. "This is a blanket victimization of a suspect class," said specialist Farhaj Hassan, a U.S. Army reservist and one of the plaintiffs. "I think this is what the pilgrims crossed the ocean to avoid." The suit comes two weeks after State Attorney Jeffrey Chiesa announced the completion of a three-month review into the NYPD's actions in New Jersey. His office found New York investigators did nothing wrong or criminal, leaving many Muslim leaders in New Jersey to feel like the lawsuit was a last resort to vindicate themselves. "They don't have the right to spy and do surveillance on innocent people, on good citizens," said Newark Imam Abdul Kareem Muhammad. The NYPD could not be reached for comment immediately, but on Tuesday NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Paul Browne said, "I refer you to the New Jersey AG’s report and to the fact that NYPD activities in New Jersey were lawful, appropriate and in keeping with efforts there, in New York, and around the world to prevent terrorists from returning here to kill more New Yorkers." Indeed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT for America P.O. 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