Council Seeks Answers on Muslim Spying

The Newark Municipal Council last night joined a growing chorus calling for an investigation into the New York Police Department’s surveillance of the city’s Muslim community in 2007.

Council members also questioned claims by city officials, including Mayor Cory Booker, that they were unaware the NYPD was conducting a blanket spying operation of Muslims not suspected of any crimes.

Booker, along with state officials, has also called for a probe into the NYPD’s activities.

Speaking before a city hall chamber packed with burqa-clad women and men wearing crocheted Islamic skull caps, the council unanimously approved a resolution sponsored by Central Ward Councilman Darrin Sharif demanding an inquiry into the activities of “any and all law enforcement personnel with regard to the intelligence gathering activities” of the Newark and New York police departments.

“I have more questions than answers that were provided,” Sharif said.

In a March 5 letter to Councilman-at-Large Luis Quinatna, who chairs the council’s public safety committee, Sharif questioned assertions by current and former police officials, who said they were unaware of the exact nature of the NPYD’s activities here.

Gerry McCarthy, who led the Newark Police Department at the time and now heads the Chicago police department, has claimed he was “merely notified” by the NYPD, Sharif wrote, and the department did not actively assist in the surveillance. But this assertion contradicts a statement made by Samuel DeMaio -- who was chief of detectives at the time and is now director of the Newark Police Department -- claiming that a Newark police officer “escorted personnel from the NYPD for a day,” the letter also states.

“The dispositive issue is to what extent the Newark Police Department knew about the actions of the New York Police Department,” Sharif wrote.

Sharif’s resolution received full-throated approval from the council last night.

“Racial profiling is an abomination in the face of God, it is an abomination in the face of Allah, it is an abomination in the face of Buddha, it is an abomination in the face of whatever higher power you follow,” said Councilwoman-at-Large Mildred Crump.

“I think this is an important matter. My concern is that I have been to many of the mosques, and I would be offended if I was being recorded in a place of worship,” Quintana said.

Referring to the possibility of the Newark Police Department actively assisting the NYPD, Quintana said, “If that occurred, did the mayor know?”

The issue first came to light several weeks ago, following an article by the Associated Press detailing a report describing NYPD surveillance of Muslim businesses, houses of worship and student organizations throughout the region, including in Newark.

Following the revelations, city officials sought to mend fences with the Muslim community, an effort complicated by repeated assertions from the New York Police Department that Newark police brass had been fully apprised of the surveillance.