Interesting that the demand to stop looking at them because they are Muslim does not address the fact that most terrorist attacks worldwide are done by Muslims using the Qur'an and hadiths of Muhammad to justify their actions. With that being the case, it only makes Muslims look suspicious when they balk at any kind of scrutiny by law enforcement, and helps to perpetuate the stereotype of Muslims being jihadists or Islamists in the public's eyes. I would ask those who are promoting the lawsuit; when going after the Mafia, would it have been better to investigate Mormons instead of Italian restaurants and social clubs? When trying to identify Nazis in the US during WWII, should the government looked more closely at the Elks Lodge than the German-American Bundt? As long as jihadists scream Allahu Akbar and continue to use Qur'anic quotes it only makes sense to look closely at mosques, Muslim gathering places and madrassas. Unless those who run and frequent such places have something to hide. The religion of peace has nothing to hide....do they?
From NJ.com June 6 by James Queally
Suit against NYPD asks that surveillance of Muslims based on faith be declared unconstitutional
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.
From NJ.com June 6 by James Queally
Suit against NYPD asks that surveillance of Muslims based on faith be declared unconstitutional
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.
"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.
NYPD never said ALL Muslims are suspects, but the suspects that are Muslim can only be identified by looking at where they live and hang out. You don't look for the gold in a dry desert.
Read it all
1 comment:
The law does not allow policing of a particular sector of the population because criminals are disproportionately represented within it. The police are not supposed to stop anyone for 'driving while black', though there ARE a disproportionate number of African Americans among law-breakers (that is a plain statistic that anyone can agree with, liberal, conservative, or whatever - it's not at all racist).
Similarly, the SEC doesn't pick on Jewish bankers. And the NYPD shouldn't single out Muslims.
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