Targets of the New York City Police Department’s spying on Muslim Americans have filed a federal lawsuit against what they call “unconstitutional religious profiling and suspicionless surveillance.” In the years following the 9/11 attacks, the NYPD secretly infiltrated Muslim student groups, sent informants into mosques, eavesdropped on conversations and created databases showing where Muslims lived, worked and prayed. The NYPD admitted last year the spying failed to yield a single terrorism investigation or even a single lead. On Tuesday, New York City Muslims who were swept up in the spying filed a landmark suit accusing police of violating their civil rights. Plaintiff Asad Dandia described his run-in with a man who turned out to be a police informant.

Asad Dandia: “In March of 2012 I was approached by a 19-year-old man. He came to me telling me that he was looking for spirituality and that he was looking to change his ways. He said he had a very dark past, and he wanted to be a better practicing Muslim. So I figured what better way to have him perform his obligation than to join this organization. In October of 2012, he released a public statement saying that he was an informant for the NYPD. When I found out, I had a whole mixture of feelings. Number one, I was terrified, and I was afraid for my family, especially for my younger sister, who were exposed to all of this. I felt betrayed and hurt, because someone who I took as a friend and a brother was lying to me.”

In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped file the suit, said the plaintiffs are asking a federal court to stop the NYPD’s Muslim Surveillance Program and to bar future spying based on religion in the absence of reasonable suspicion.