More details have emerged on the New York City Police Department spy program targeting Muslim Americans. The Associated Press reports the NYPD has labeled entire mosques as terrorist groups in order to use undercover informants that make secret recordings and spy on imams, often without any evidence of wrongdoing. Designating a mosque as a terrorist organization means anyone attending services could be put under investigation and surveillance. At least a dozen “Terrorism Enterprise Investigations” have targeted New York-area mosques since 9/11. Targets of the NYPD’s spying on Muslim Americans filed a federal lawsuit in June, alleging what they call “unconstitutional religious profiling and suspicionless surveillance.” In a statement, the groups Muslim Advocates and the Center for Constitutional Rights said: “[The NYPD] must stop egregious discriminatory policies that single out individuals simply because of how they pray.”
