The NYPD’s post-9/11 surveillance program tracked innocent Muslims at mosques, community centers, and colleges across the tri-state area, linking exactly none of them to terrorism, and it’s now the subject of a lawsuit. A group of eight individuals and organizations in New Jersey have sued the department for what they allege is unconstitutional spying, as revealed in an extensive Associated Press series, based solely on their religion. “It’s such an unfair thing going on: Here I am, I am an American citizen, I was born here, I am law abiding, I volunteer in my community, I have dialogues and good relationships with Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and the NYPD here is surveilling people like me?” said one plaintiff, a 19-year-old Rutgers student. Another, Army reservist Syed Farhaj Hassan, said he served in Iraq to fight Saddam Hussein’s secret police: “I didn’t know they had one across the Hudson.”
