SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"Why are we asking, 'Are you Muslim? What mosque do you go to?' What does that have to do with terrorism?" Bobby Farid Hadid, a former sergeant with the Citywide Debriefing Team who is a Muslim immigrant from Algeria. (Credit Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)
NYPD Trolled Jails Hoping to Turn Muslims into Informants
'Eventually, the detectives got to the point: Would they work for the police, eavesdropping in Muslim cafes and restaurants, or in mosques?'
May 11, 2014
Despite an announcement last month that the New York City Police Department had disbanded a controversial surveillance unit, the New York Times reports on Sunday that the department has continued to systematically target the city's Muslim communities by recruiting individuals arrested of petty crimes to act as informants for so-called "terrorist investigations."
The Times reviewed stacks of internal reports and spoke with former members of the units involved in the program and learned that "a squad of detectives, known as the Citywide Debriefing Team" was combing the city's jails for newly arrested individuals in order to "invite" them to become police informants.
According to the Times:
The men, all Muslim immigrants, went through similar ordeals: Waiting in a New York station house cell or a lockup facility, expecting to be arraigned, only to be pulled aside and questioned by detectives. The queries were not about the charges against them, but about where they went to mosque and what their prayer habits were. Eventually, the detectives got to the point: Would they work for the police, eavesdropping in Muslim cafes and restaurants, or in mosques?
Even as the NYPD defended the program, saying that it was both "effective" and that the interview were "conversations" not interrogations, the paper notes that "many of those interviewed said that as Muslim immigrants in a post-9/11 world, they felt they had little choice but to cooperate."
As Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said after the shuttering of a separate unit that targeted Muslims last month, the NYPD runs a "huge, discriminatory surveillance program" against the Muslim community of which these separate programs only make up a part. The NYPD, said Shamsi at the time, must go further by ending "all aspects of the bias-based policing that has stigmatized New York's Muslim communities and done them such great harm."
___________________________
Why Your Ongoing Support Is Essential
Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy, justice, and a free press are escalating — putting everything we stand for at risk. We believe a better world is possible, but we can’t get there without your support. Common Dreams stands apart. We answer only to you — our readers, activists, and changemakers — not to billionaires or corporations. Our independence allows us to cover the vital stories that others won’t, spotlighting movements for peace, equality, and human rights. Right now, our work faces unprecedented challenges. Misinformation is spreading, journalists are under attack, and financial pressures are mounting. As a reader-supported, nonprofit newsroom, your support is crucial to keep this journalism alive. Whatever you can give — $10, $25, or $100 — helps us stay strong and responsive when the world needs us most. Together, we’ll continue to build the independent, courageous journalism our movement relies on. Thank you for being part of this community. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Despite an announcement last month that the New York City Police Department had disbanded a controversial surveillance unit, the New York Times reports on Sunday that the department has continued to systematically target the city's Muslim communities by recruiting individuals arrested of petty crimes to act as informants for so-called "terrorist investigations."
The Times reviewed stacks of internal reports and spoke with former members of the units involved in the program and learned that "a squad of detectives, known as the Citywide Debriefing Team" was combing the city's jails for newly arrested individuals in order to "invite" them to become police informants.
According to the Times:
The men, all Muslim immigrants, went through similar ordeals: Waiting in a New York station house cell or a lockup facility, expecting to be arraigned, only to be pulled aside and questioned by detectives. The queries were not about the charges against them, but about where they went to mosque and what their prayer habits were. Eventually, the detectives got to the point: Would they work for the police, eavesdropping in Muslim cafes and restaurants, or in mosques?
Even as the NYPD defended the program, saying that it was both "effective" and that the interview were "conversations" not interrogations, the paper notes that "many of those interviewed said that as Muslim immigrants in a post-9/11 world, they felt they had little choice but to cooperate."
As Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said after the shuttering of a separate unit that targeted Muslims last month, the NYPD runs a "huge, discriminatory surveillance program" against the Muslim community of which these separate programs only make up a part. The NYPD, said Shamsi at the time, must go further by ending "all aspects of the bias-based policing that has stigmatized New York's Muslim communities and done them such great harm."
___________________________
Despite an announcement last month that the New York City Police Department had disbanded a controversial surveillance unit, the New York Times reports on Sunday that the department has continued to systematically target the city's Muslim communities by recruiting individuals arrested of petty crimes to act as informants for so-called "terrorist investigations."
The Times reviewed stacks of internal reports and spoke with former members of the units involved in the program and learned that "a squad of detectives, known as the Citywide Debriefing Team" was combing the city's jails for newly arrested individuals in order to "invite" them to become police informants.
According to the Times:
The men, all Muslim immigrants, went through similar ordeals: Waiting in a New York station house cell or a lockup facility, expecting to be arraigned, only to be pulled aside and questioned by detectives. The queries were not about the charges against them, but about where they went to mosque and what their prayer habits were. Eventually, the detectives got to the point: Would they work for the police, eavesdropping in Muslim cafes and restaurants, or in mosques?
Even as the NYPD defended the program, saying that it was both "effective" and that the interview were "conversations" not interrogations, the paper notes that "many of those interviewed said that as Muslim immigrants in a post-9/11 world, they felt they had little choice but to cooperate."
As Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said after the shuttering of a separate unit that targeted Muslims last month, the NYPD runs a "huge, discriminatory surveillance program" against the Muslim community of which these separate programs only make up a part. The NYPD, said Shamsi at the time, must go further by ending "all aspects of the bias-based policing that has stigmatized New York's Muslim communities and done them such great harm."
___________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.