NEW YORK – Lawyers for New York City are claiming police had legitimate reasons to put mosques under surveillance in response to a civil rights lawsuit filed by Muslims.
An attorney with the city Law Department told a federal judge at a hearing in Brooklyn on Thursday that before the case goes forward, the city should be allowed to show that the New York Police Department was acting on reasonable suspicion.
An American Civil Liberties Union attorney countered that the suspicions were based on innuendo. She said the NYPD should be ordered to turn over sensitive reports and documents detailing the alleged spying on Muslims.
The suit was filed June following a series of Associated Press reports detailing the NYPD's Muslim surveillance programs.
The judge said she would rule at a later date.
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