Official Says NYPD No Longer Surveilling New Jersey Muslim Groups

Yesterday, New Jersey state attorney general Jeffrey Chiesa told a group of Muslim leaders that the New York City Police Department's Demographics Unit that conducted surveillance of Muslim businesses, religious leaders and student groups is no longer operating in New Jersey. (See prior related posting.) According to an AP report carried by the Huffington Post, Chiesa however stood by his previously announced conclusion that the NYPD had not violated any New Jersey laws when it secretly spied on Muslim neighborhoods and organizations, infiltrated Muslim student groups and videotaped mosque-goers in New Jersey. Chiesa's remarks came at the first meeting of an outreach committee that has been formed to repair relations between New Jersey law enforcement officials and the Muslim community. An NYPD spokesman though said that the NYPD is "continuing and will continue to follow leads wherever they take us, including out-of-state."