CIA aided New York police in spying on Muslims: report

By Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story
Aug. 25, 2011

Despite a prohibition on spying within the United States, the Central Intelligence Agency played a key role in transforming the New York Police Department's intelligence unit into a cutting edge spy shop dedicated to gathering information on Muslims, and not just in New York.

That's according to a new report out Wednesday by The Associated Press, which claims a veteran CIA agent helped train one of the NYPD's detectives in advanced surveillance methods. They also sent an undercover agent to work in the department, the report says.

With the CIA's help, the NYPD has gathered information on cab drivers, street level food vendors, ethnic book stores, Internet cafes and even mosques, sending snoops in to listen to sermons -- all without a hint of federal, state or local oversight.

Part of their strategy involves the use of a "Demographic Unit," which the NYPD officially denied exists. One undercover officer quoted by AP said he was ordered to move into an ethnic neighborhood and "act like a civilian" so his monitors could use him like a "walking camera."

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