by guest blogger Gordon Shumway
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57381243/jury-is-out-on-nypds-muslim-students-probe/
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2107253,00.html
In John Miller's article on CBS news he states "When I was in the FBI, and in the Los Angeles Police Department, there were clear lines about what we could investigate as a potential threat, and what we could not investigate as protected as free speech... if someone says, for instance, "I hate Americans," that is protected speech. If, however, that person goes on to say "we should kill Americans," then that person has crossed a line.". However according the Time article the only thing the NYPD needs in order to be suspicious of anyone is that you're a Muslim. The article gives a few examples of how the NYPD is going out of their to target Muslim students at Universities such as Yale, Rutgers (here's an article on how they feel about it
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204909104577235723573057492.html), and the University of Pennsylvania amongst others. One of the most ridiculous stories that was in the Time article was regarding an undercover cop who accompanied a group of young Muslim men from the City College of New York on a whitewater rafting trip. The officer wrote in their report "In addition to the regularly scheduled events (Rafting), the group prayed at least four times a day, and much of the conversation was spent discussing Islam and was religious in nature,". The author of the article Chris Hawley responds stating "Praying five times a day is one of the core traditions of Islam."
It was almost a month ago that news broke about the NYPD using an Islamaphobic propaganda film for anti terror training (if it was actually made for police training then I would say it's not a very good training video, see the NYTIMES article
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/nyregion/in-police-training-a-dark-film-on-us-muslims.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=third%20jihad&st=cse),
and within the last 6 months there was growing concern over the NYPD's surveillance of Muslim Communities in NYC ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/19/nypd-surveillance-of-muslims-9-11-civil-liberties_n_1102912.html ). I guess I just wonder who's going to police the NYPD from oppressing those who just want to live their lives in peace.
As much as this practice is outrageous, and based on ignorance and fear, eleven years since 9/11, I do not see this attitude changing much, especially in New York City. However, I'm hopeful that through the revelation of this article, some changes can start taking place so that real threats can be monitored, instead of wasting time spying on decent people trying to live their lives.
ReplyDeleteI would hope that more coverage from the media (which has been happening) would help extinguish this flame. I think another thing that comes to mind is that this is also a waste of tax dollars. Kinda like how this might be a waste of tax dollars as well http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/nyregion/new-york-settles-suit-on-illegal-arrests-for-loitering.html?ref=nyregion
DeleteI agree Simone, I too hope changes will be made. When I read this post the first thing that came to mind was my best friend. She is Muslim and her family moved to the United States about 10 years ago from Lebanon in search for better opportunities. I would hate to know that her life was being spyed on or invaded. I know that the situation is different in NYC and that the people there have had different experiences then I have but like I said I just hope things will change one day.
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