Muslims File Suit Over NYPD Surveillance

Eight Muslims, including several college students, are suing the New York Police Department (NYPD) over a surveillance program that targeted Muslims throughout the Northeast, investigations the plaintiffs claim violated their religious freedom, WORLD News Service reports. Last year, an Associated Press investigation revealed that the NYPD conducted wholesale surveillance of entire Muslim neighborhoods, chronicling details such as where people ate, prayed and got their hair cut. Police also infiltrated dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups and investigated hundreds more. News of the surveillance program reignited the debate over the tension between freedom and national security. In announcing the suit on June 6, Glenn Katon of Muslim Advocates, the group that filed the legal challenge, accused the NYPD of violating the Constitution by basing its surveillance only on the Muslims' religion.