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CIA Helping NYPD Spy on Muslims

Investigation uncovers huge domestic spying program

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 24, 2011 1:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – Ever since September 11, the NYPD has been running a massive domestic intelligence operation with the help of the CIA, an AP investigation has discovered. The department has sent undercover officers to monitor Muslim neighborhoods, and assigned so-called “mosque crawlers” to listen in on sermons without any evidence of wrongdoing. Nor are their activities confined to New York; they’ve run surveillance missions as far away as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, without notifying local authorities.

The entire program was built in part by an active CIA officer still on the agency payroll, and the CIA has helped train officers, and sent operatives to help out, blurring the line that’s supposed to bar the agency from domestic spying. The NYPD denies some aspects of the report, but says it won’t apologize for taking drastic measures to prevent terrorism—although it admits that it has purposely kept information about the program out of court, because it’s afraid judges might not approve. Click here for the complete report.

In an Oct. 30, 2007 photo, then-Assistant NYPD Commissioner Lawrence Sanchez, left, testifies on Capitol Hill. Sanchez, a former CIA clandestine officer, helped build the NYPD's intelligence division. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File)

Pedestrians start their morning under the watchful eyes of surveillance cameras in Times Square in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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CIA Helping NYPD Spy on Muslims

Investigation uncovers huge domestic spying program

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