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Muslims ask Justice Dept. to probe NYPD activities
Posted: Aug 24, 2011 7:56 PM by Gene Cotton
NEW YORK (AP) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the New York Police Department's intelligence activities.
Officials involved in the program say the NYPD has used informants, known as "mosque crawlers," to monitor sermons, even when there's no evidence of wrongdoing. The officials also say undercover officers have been sent into minority neighborhoods to monitor daily life.
CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper says that's "un-American" and may also be unconstitutional.
The NYPD denies that it trolls ethnic neighborhoods and says it only follows leads.
Hooper says CAIR also is concerned that the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans, was instrumental in developing the NYPD's intelligence unit.
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