Muslims rally to protest NYPD spying programs Associated Press Posted on November 18, 2011 at 1:01 PM
Updated today at 1:05 PM NEW YORK (AP) — New York Muslims are gathering in lower Manhattan for a planned March on New York Police Department headquarters to protest a decade of spying in Muslim communities.
About 200 people have gathered so far in Foley Square near City Hall. They are carrying signs calling for Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly's ouster and an end to police infiltration of mosques and school groups. More protesters are expected for an afternoon prayer session and members of Occupy Wall Street are joining in solidarity.
About 25 police officers followed roughly 50 Occupy Wall Street members as they marched the half-mile to Foley Square, chanting "Surveillance is violence, we won't remain silent!"
An Associated Press investigation revealed widespread NYPD spying programs that built databases on every aspect of Muslim life in New York.