Fact check: Bloomberg falsely claims NYPD only entered mosques when invited in

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

In an exchange filmed in December but tweeted out only last week, Bloomberg told Sarah Pearson, a Milwaukee activist and organizer who is also a supporter of rival candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, that he is a strong supporter of the Muslim community and its rights. He also claimed: "We only went into mosques when they asked us to come in."

When Pearson pressed him further on the surveillance, Bloomberg said the police "only went in when the mosque or the imam asked ... period. End of story."

Facts First: Mosques and other Islamic organizations were surveilled without being asked or notified during the Bloomberg mayoralty that began in 2002, including with secret informants and undercover officers. Muslim leaders in New York City and in New Jersey, where the NYPD also conducted surveillance, say Bloomberg's claim that the police went into mosques only when invited in is categorically false. Adam Goldman, a journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize as part of an Associated Press team that exposed the surveillance program, says the same.

To read more:

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/24/politics/fact-check-bloomberg-nypd-muslim-surveillance/index.html

[jberryhill]

1. Weird that he would even rely on that

Police, informants, and anyone else, can enter any place which is generally open to the public.

[guillaumeb]

2. In my view, this was all a part of the generalized Sept 11 overreaction.

Many social justice and anti-war groups were also surveilled.

In Bridgeview, Il, the FBI surveilled the Muslim community for many years. Here is a link to a documentary about the situation:

https://www.pbs.org/pov/watch/thefeelingofbeingwatched/video-the-feeling-of-being-watched/

[jberryhill]

3. I understand the context

But at the end of the day, anyone in public can watch anything else which goes on in public, and that includes the police. Whether they are using their time and resources wisely or productively is ultimately up to the public for whom they work.

These are the same rules and norms which allow persons to watch and or film the police doing their work in public.