Religious groups rail against NYPD surveillance
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 Last updated: Tuesday March 13, 2012, 4:40 PM
BY NICK CLUNN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
NEW YORK – More than two dozen religious groups called on Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday to root out police practices that infringe on religious liberties like the covert surveillance of Muslims in the region.
Police training and practices must “support the constitutionally protected right to worship without scrutiny for every religious community,” group leaders said in a letter that was sent to the mayor’s office today.
Imam Al-Hajj Talib Adbur-Raschid, president of the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York, speaking during an afternoon press conference announcing the letter at the interdenominational Riverside Church in Manhattan, accused Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly of “acting more like rulers than public servants.”
“It’s no longer Muslims speaking out in a vacuum,” said Abdur-Raschid, who was flanked at the podium by men and women representative a variety of religious groups.
http://www.northjersey.com/topstories/newark/Religious_groups_rail_against_NYPD_surveillance.html
