By Michael German, Senior Policy Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:31pm
In a throwback to the J. Edgar Hoover-era COINTELPRO investigations targeting civil rights and anti-war activists, the FBI is now training its agents to be on the lookout for "Black Separatist" terrorists, according to FBI training materials released today by the ACLU. These new disclosures, obtained through Freedom of Information Act litigation, are the latest in a growing flood of FBI training materials that include factually flawed and biased information.
Today the ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union called on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to investigate religious and racial profiling by the New York Police Department.
In a series of articles, the Associated Press reports the NYPD spied on mosques and Muslim college students far outside New York City, without evidence or allegations of criminal activity. The NYPD surveilled mosques and businesses in Muslim and ethnic communities in Newark and on Long Island, and monitored college students in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, according to documents released by the AP.
By Nusrat Choudhury, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project at 12:49pm
Today, the N.Y. Times reported that Charles Kurzman, author of a study by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, concludes American Muslims pose "a minuscule threat to public safety." The report found that 20 American Muslims were charged in violent plots or attacks in 2011, down from 26 in 2010 and 47 in 2009. It also found that not a single murder in 2011 resulted from extremist violence by Muslims in the United States.
By Nusrat Choudhury, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project at 3:28pm
Last week, the ACLU released FBI documents showing that the bureau is secretly and deliberately collecting information about innocent Americans through community outreach programs and retaining information about these Americans’ speech, beliefs, and other First Amendment-protected activities in violation of the Privacy Act. The Washington Post reported on Muslim community concerns over this practice.
“To Protect and Serve” is the longstanding motto of many American police departments. But it fails to ring true when a law enforcement officer subjects a citizen to humiliating interrogation, search and detention — simply because of how the person looks.
When police engage in racial profiling, they are not only violating the Constitution, they are also hindering their ability to keep communities safe.
By Nusrat Choudhury, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project at 5:12pm
Yesterday, the ACLU unveiled a new initiative — Mapping the FBI — that exposes the ways in which vastly expanded FBI investigative authority has resulted in the unconstitutional investigation of American communities and individuals based on who they are and what they believe.
By Scott Swenson, Washington Legislative Office at 12:40pm
Innocent, peaceful American Muslims are being targeted by the FBI, with the bureau engaging in racial-mapping programs and informants infiltrating and spying on neighborhood mosques. Now we know that at least some of these activities might be the result of FBI counterterrorism trainings that describe Muslims as terrorist sympathizers.
FBI documents obtained by Spencer Ackerman of Wired.com's Danger Room blog detail training manuals and graphs depicting Islam as "violent" by comparison to Christianity and Judaism. Ackerman writes, "The FBI isn't just treading on thin legal ice by portraying ordinary, observant Americans as terrorists-in-waiting, former counterterrorism agents say. It's also playing into al-Qaida's hands."
By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:52pm
Once the shock subsided, we set out to determine what new powers the government would seek in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The smoke billowing from the Pentagon was visible over Washington as I met with several ACLU colleagues from around the country in a Dupont Circle hotel. We watched the tragedy unfold on television, looking out on streams of frightened pedestrians uncertain the attacks were over.
"Ten years later, as we remember and mourn those who died on Sepetember 11th, our nation still faces the challenge of remaining both safe and free."
