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Papers say NYPD kept tabs on mosques, groups
Source: Agencies |
September 7, 2011, Wednesday
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THE New York Police Department collected intelligence on more than 250 mosques and Muslim student groups in and around New York, often using undercover officers and informants to canvas the Islamic population of America's largest city, according to officials and confidential, internal documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The documents, many marked "secret," highlight how the past decade's hunt for terrorists also put huge numbers of innocent people under scrutiny as they went about their daily lives in mosques, businesses and social groups.
An AP investigation last month revealed that a secret squad known as the Demographics Unit sent teams of undercover officers to help keep tabs on the area's Muslim communities. The recent documents are the first to quantify that effort.
Since the 2001 attacks, the police department has built one of the United States' most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies, one that operates far outside the city limits and maintains a list of "ancestries of interest" that it uses to focus its clandestine efforts.
That effort has benefited from federal money and an unusually close relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency, one that at times blurred the lines between domestic and foreign intelligence-gathering.
After identifying more than 250 area mosques, police officials determined the "ethnic orientation, leadership and group affiliations," according to the 2006 police documents. Police also used informants and teams of plainclothes officers, known as rakers, to identify mosques requiring further scrutiny, according to an official involved in that effort, who requested anonymity.
Armed with that information, police then identified 53 "mosques of concern" and placed undercover officers and informants there, the documents show.
Many of those mosques were flagged for allegations of criminal activity, such as alien smuggling, financing the militant Palestinian group Hamas or money laundering. Others were identified for having ties to Salafism, a hardline movement preaching a strict version of Islamic law. Still others were identified for what the documents refer to as "rhetoric."
The list of mosques where undercover agents or informants operated includes ones that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has visited and that area officials have mentioned as part of the region's strong ties to the Muslim community. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has stood beside leaders of some mosques on the list as allies in fighting terrorism.
New York Police identified 263 "hot spots" throughout the city, the documents show. Like the mosques, the examples of hot spots ranged from businesses that sold untaxed cigarettes and where inflammatory rhetoric was overheard to those with less obvious criminal connections.
The documents appear at times at odds with the White House's newly released policy on combatting violent extremism. That paper discourages authorities from casting suspicion on communities or conflating strong religious views with violent extremism. The White House has declined to comment on the NYPD's clandestine programs but has applauded its counterterrorism efforts.
The documents, many marked "secret," highlight how the past decade's hunt for terrorists also put huge numbers of innocent people under scrutiny as they went about their daily lives in mosques, businesses and social groups.
An AP investigation last month revealed that a secret squad known as the Demographics Unit sent teams of undercover officers to help keep tabs on the area's Muslim communities. The recent documents are the first to quantify that effort.
Since the 2001 attacks, the police department has built one of the United States' most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies, one that operates far outside the city limits and maintains a list of "ancestries of interest" that it uses to focus its clandestine efforts.
That effort has benefited from federal money and an unusually close relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency, one that at times blurred the lines between domestic and foreign intelligence-gathering.
After identifying more than 250 area mosques, police officials determined the "ethnic orientation, leadership and group affiliations," according to the 2006 police documents. Police also used informants and teams of plainclothes officers, known as rakers, to identify mosques requiring further scrutiny, according to an official involved in that effort, who requested anonymity.
Armed with that information, police then identified 53 "mosques of concern" and placed undercover officers and informants there, the documents show.
Many of those mosques were flagged for allegations of criminal activity, such as alien smuggling, financing the militant Palestinian group Hamas or money laundering. Others were identified for having ties to Salafism, a hardline movement preaching a strict version of Islamic law. Still others were identified for what the documents refer to as "rhetoric."
The list of mosques where undercover agents or informants operated includes ones that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has visited and that area officials have mentioned as part of the region's strong ties to the Muslim community. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has stood beside leaders of some mosques on the list as allies in fighting terrorism.
New York Police identified 263 "hot spots" throughout the city, the documents show. Like the mosques, the examples of hot spots ranged from businesses that sold untaxed cigarettes and where inflammatory rhetoric was overheard to those with less obvious criminal connections.
The documents appear at times at odds with the White House's newly released policy on combatting violent extremism. That paper discourages authorities from casting suspicion on communities or conflating strong religious views with violent extremism. The White House has declined to comment on the NYPD's clandestine programs but has applauded its counterterrorism efforts.
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