CAIR Seeks FBI Response to NY Rep’s Claim of Mosque Surveillance 
Rep. Peter King alleges that ‘a number’ of district mosques being watched

(NEW YORK, N.Y., 4/20/2009) - The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) today called on the FBI to confirm or deny a claim by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) that “a number” of Long Island mosques are under law enforcement surveillance.

In a recent Newsday interview, King said, "right now there are a number of [Long Island] mosques under surveillance by law enforcement agencies.” King also claimed the mosques have been under surveillance “for four or five years.”

King’s allegations about spying on mosques in his district came in response to a CAIR-NY statement last week calling on elected representatives to repudiate the congressman’s claim that “very few Muslims come forward to cooperate with the police.”

SEE: Peter King Remarks About Mosques Draw Muslim Ire (Newsday)
SEE ALSO: Peter King: I Stand By My Comments on Muslims (Newsday)

CAIR-NY said that if true, such blanket scrutiny would contradict public assurances by the FBI that American houses of worship are not subject to routine surveillance.

In responding to ongoing Muslim concerns about reports of informants and agents provocateurs being placed in American mosques, FBI spokesman John Miller stated recently: “The FBI does not investigate mosques, we investigate people.” (Washington Post, 3/28/09)

SEE: Some Influential Muslim Groups Question FBI's Actions (LA Times)
SEE ALSO: Muslims Describe FBI Offers to Act as Informants (Detroit News)
U.S. Muslim Coalition Considers Suspending Relations with FBI

At a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) asked FBI Director Robert Mueller “whether mosques have been entered by FBI agents or informants without disclosing their identities under the authority of the attorney general guidelines and, if so, how many?” Mueller stated: “I will say that we do not focus on institutions, we focus on individuals.”

SEE: FBI Director Questioned about Muslim Relations

In a 2008 statement refuting claims that surveillance records of mosques in California were illegally obtained and disseminated by a group operating out of the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, the FBI said:

"The FBI does not monitor the lawful activities of individuals in the United States, nor does the FBI have a surveillance program to monitor the constitutionally protected activities of houses of worship. We do not target or monitor legal activity of Muslim groups anywhere in the nation."

SEE: Congress Asked to Probe Surveillance of California Muslims

“Congressman King’s claim that law enforcement authorities are engaged in widespread surveillance of Islamic houses of worship in his district raises serious civil liberties concerns that must be addressed,” said CAIR-NY Community Affairs Director Faiza N. Ali. “King’s repeated use of Islamophobic rhetoric is of deep concern to Muslims in his district and to the entire American Muslim community.”

She said King's claims that American Muslims are not doing enough to support national security and law enforcement agencies are contradicted by FBI Director Mueller, who on April 23, 2008,told theU.S. House Judiciary Committee: “I re-affirm the fact that 99.9 percent of Muslim-Americans or Sikh-Americans, Arab-Americans are every bit as patriotic as anybody else in this room, and that many of our cases are a result of the cooperation from the Muslim community in the United States.”

At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 25, 2009, Director Mueller said the Muslim community “has been tremendously supportive and worked very closely with [the FBI] in a number of instances around the country.”

In a 2003 interview with The Minaret magazine, Mueller said: “I would like to thank the Muslim Americans for their support on the war against terrorism and working with the FBI around the country as well as state and local law enforcement.”

In 2007, CAIR called on Republican leaders to repudiate remarks by Rep. King in which he said “we have too many mosques in this country.” The Democratic National Committee (DNC) condemned King’s statements, calling them “deplorable.”

SEE: Rep. King: 'Too Many Mosques' (Video)

King has in the past claimed that the vast majority of mosques in his state and nationwide are being run by "radicals" and called for racial profiling of Muslims in airports.

SEE: King Endorses Ethnic Profiling (Newsday)

(Note: King has taken political donations from members of a New York mosque he claims is a hotbed of radicalism. A Newsday article stated: “Rep. Peter King is attempting to link his political opponent to men he calls ‘radical’ Muslim leaders on Long Island, but federal records show the congressman accepted thousands of dollars last year in campaign contributions from some of the same donors.”)

In 2004, King said that "85 percent" of American Muslim community leaders are "an enemy living amongst us" and that "no [American] Muslims" cooperate in the war on terror. He made these claims despite the fact that American Muslims consistently condemn terrorism and work to protect national security.

SEE: CAIR’s Anti-Terrorism Campaigns

During a 2008 hearing of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing & Terrorism Risk Assessment, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) challenged King’s criticism of an advertising campaign in New York subway cars designed to educate the public about Islam. Rep. Pascrell said: “I am deeply disappointed in any public official or media outlet that would use harsh rhetoric against this ad campaign which simply seeks to answer people’s questions about Islam.”

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties group and has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil liberties, and empower American Muslims.