The U.S. attorney general is looking into concerns that the New York Police Department monitored Muslim mosques and student associations.
The monitoring, which began in 2006, occurred outside New York City limits and is currently being reviewed, said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder called the events ‘disturbing’ at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Thursday.
It was reported that the NYPD monitored Muslim groups and student organizations on college campuses, including Syracuse University, in February. The NYPD also monitored Muslim mosques and small businesses in New Jersey, angering politicians and the FBI because it undermined national security.
At the committee hearing, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) questioned how law enforcement could spy on residents in another state without notifying the state’s authorities. Lautenberg said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker were unaware of the NYPD’s investigations in their state, according to an article published by The Associated Press on Thursday. Holder said he did not know the answer.
‘At least what I’ve read publicly, and again, just what I’ve read in the newspapers, is disturbing,’ Holder said during the hearing, according to the article.
Holder did not elaborate on whether he was bothered by the actual monitoring or that it was done outside city limits, according to the article.
The U.S. Department of Justice has begun reviewing letters of concern it received regarding the issue, Holder said. The department is still deciding whether to investigate civil rights violations, as the review process is still in its early stages, according to a Feb. 29 AP article.
Xochitl Hinojosa, public affairs specialist for the Department of Justice, said on Tuesday the department is currently in the process of reviewing requests, but would not elaborate.
‘The department is aware of the allegations and we have received several requests to investigate the NYPD,’ Hinojosa said. ‘We decline further comment at this time.’
The Obama administration refused to support the NYPD’s actions, even though the efforts were partly funded under a White House federal grant used to combat drug crimes, according to the article.
Thirty-four members of Congress have asked the Department of Justice for an investigation. Though federal agents have used civil rights to investigate police abuse before, it has not been done in the last decade for a police department’s counterterrorism efforts, according to Thursday’s article. The NYPD’s intelligence unit currently operates without any outside oversight.
The NYPD has defended its actions, claiming the monitoring is legal. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also defended the department and said the last decade without successful terrorist attacks proves the department’s security efforts have been effective.
mjberner@syr.edu