Muslims and allies rally in New York’s Foley Sq. against NYPD spying on Muslims (Photo: CAIR-NY/Flickr)
A group of Congressional Democrats is challenging the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) program of spying on Muslims. An amendment and a separate bill were introduced last week in the House of Representatives that would have barred federal funds from being used to conduct profiling and condemned the NYPD’s program.
Rush Holt (D-NJ) led the efforts, and was backed by five other House Democrats. Last Wednesday, he introduced an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have “barred federal funds from being used to conduct ethnic or religious profiling.” The White House, through an anti-drug grant program, has provided funding that was used by the NYPD for their spy program. Holt’s amendment ultimately failed (232 votes against), but he didn’t stop there.
The day after Holt’s amendment failed, he introduced a stand-alone bill “condemning the New York Police Department’s ethnic and religious profiling and warrantless surveillance of Muslim Americans.” That non-binding resolution slams the NYPD’s “illicit ethnic and religious profiling and surveillance of Muslim American communities.” The bill also says the NYPD program “recalls other dark chapters in the Nation’s history, including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.” And most importantly, the bill calls on the NYPD to stop the program, “purge” its intelligence databases and urges a Justice Department investigation. Holt’s bill has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
The New York Daily News reported that more than half of New York’s Congressional delegation voted in favor of the Holt bill.
The bills represent the first legislative effort to curb the NYPD spying program. The NYPD has long been criticized for being unaccountable, and there have been calls for an inspector general position to be created in New York to monitor the NYPD.
The usual suspects are outraged at Holt’s efforts. Peter King (R-NY), who led the Congressional hearings on “Muslim radicalization” last year, took to the House floor to say, “We should be here tonight giving the NYPD a medal…If you’re looking for an Islamic terrorist, you don’t go to Ben’s Kosher Deli. When they were looking for the Italian mob, they didn’t go to an Irish bar.”
Holt’s bill is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Arab American Institute.
I’ve heard that federal law requires local police departments to transfer fingerprints etc for all aliens arrested for anything (even parking violations?) so that the feds can — if they wish — expel them for visa violations, etc.
This too should be stopped. fingerprints after criminal convictions, yes, but not for mere arrests — for anything. (Goes for non aliens too, IMO).
Peter King [R-NY] said, ” if your looking for an Islamic terrorist, you don’t go to Ben’s Kosher deli, when they were looking for the Italian mob, they didn’t go to an Irish bar “. and I might add if you are looking for an Irish terrorist supporter all you need to do is visit Peter King [R-NY] in New York. ‘ In 1985, the Irish government boycotted the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City, the biggest celebration in the Irish American calendar. The cause of its umbrage was Peter T. King, that year’s grand marshal and someone the Irish government said was an “avowed” supporter of a terrorist organization, the Irish Republican Army’. [P King IRA supporter and enthusiastic counter terrorism advocate. By Peter Finn Washington post staff reporter March 5th 2011.]
part of a much larger tapestry: 9/11 happens and the psyche of the nation is traumatized and the nation’s people open to all manner of sweeping changes in the law – which over decade later now see massive invasions if privacy and wholesale chucking out the window of the 4th Amendment protections to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects” – felon John Poindexter pushed TIA (total information awareness) and now we have it … wholesale monitoring of all US citizens and data-mining on an unimaginable scale – wait, weren’t we the victims on 9/11? Why are we being monitored?
RE: “Peter King (R-NY), who led the Congressional hearings on ‘Muslim radicalization’ last year, took to the House floor to say, ‘We should be here tonight giving the NYPD a medal…If you’re looking for an Islamic terrorist, you don’t go to Ben’s Kosher Deli. When they were looking for the Italian mob, they didn’t go to an Irish bar.’ ” ~ Alex Kane
MY COMMENT: Speaking of “an Irish bar” and “the Italian mob”, Peter King reminds me so very much of Alfonse Marcello “Al” D’Amato!
FROM THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE 1992 AIPAC TELEPHONE CALL POSTED ON M.J. ROSENBERG’S SITE:
SOURCE – http://mjayrosenberg.com/2012/05/16/aipacs-congress/
Peter King earns a medal for being the #1 fascist in Washington DC this year.