NEW YORK (AP) — Fed up with a decade of police spying on the innocuous details of the daily lives of Muslims, activists in New York are discouraging people from going directly to the police with their concerns about terrorism, a campaign that is certain to further strain relations between the two groups.
Muslim community leaders are openly teaching people how to identify police informants, encouraging them to always talk to a lawyer before speaking with the authorities and reminding people already working with law enforcement that they have the right to change their minds. Some members of the community have planned a demonstration for next week.
Some government officials point to this type of outreach as proof that Muslims aren’t cooperating in the fight against terrorism, justifying the aggressive spy tactics, while many in the Muslim community view it as a way to protect themselves from getting snared in a secret police effort to catch terrorists.
As a result, one of America’s largest Muslim communities — in a city that’s been attacked twice and targeted more than a dozen times — is caught in a downward spiral of distrust with the nation’s largest police department: The New York City Police Department spies on Muslims, which makes them less likely to trust police. That reinforces the belief that the community is secretive and insular, a key reason that current and former NYPD officials cite for spying in the first place.
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The CIA was forced to curtail its spying in Lebanon, where U.S. operatives and their agents collect crucial intelligence on Syria, terrorist groups and other targets, after the arrests of several CIA informants in Beirut this year, according to U.S. officials and other sources.
“Beirut station is out of business,” a source said, using the CIA term for its post there. The same source, who declined to be identified while speaking about a classified matter, alleged that up to a dozen CIA informants have been compromised, but U.S. officials disputed that figure.
U.S. officials acknowledged that some CIA operations were suspended in Beirut last summer. It’s unclear whether full operations have resumed. Beirut is considered a key watching post for turmoil in the Middle East.
Senior CIA officials have briefed congressional staffers about the breach, and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, visited Beirut recently to interview CIA officers. Committee staff members want to determine whether CIA operatives used sloppy practices that revealed sensitive sources and methods.
Much in the case remains unclear, including the extent of the damage and whether negligence by CIA managers led to the loss of the Lebanese agents.
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Legislation drafted by Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin to update the 1917 Espionage Act has angered public disclosure advocates who say the proposal would make it harder for federal employees to expose government fraud and abuse.
The bill would clarify a murky area of law to ensure that anyone who publicly leaks classified material could be prosecuted criminally, which is not necessarily the case today. The proposal also would make it illegal for government employees to violate nondisclosure agreements.
Watchdog groups say the measure would make it harder to uncover secret military programs — such as domestic surveillance — because it doesn’t provide protection for whistleblowers and ignores a broadly held view that the Pentagon and other agencies are overzealously classifying material.
“The truth is that not everything that is classified is deserving of protection,” said Steven Aftergood, who tracks intelligence issues for the Federation of American Scientists. “Moldy old secrets from decades past are still classified.”
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Depending upon who you listen to, GPS tracking shouldn’t be your only concern when you are out and about on the streets. The ACLU hammered license plate scanners as ‘logging our every move,’ a different investigative report 
concluded your car is spying on you, and some even claim the street lights are out to get you.
The ACLU reported on the “widespread tracking of citizen’s movements” via the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs). “It has now become clear that this technology, if we do not limit its use, will represent a significant step toward the creation of a surveillance society in the United States.” The ACLU does, of course, regard GPS tracking without a warrant as intrusive on privacy, but license plate reader “technology is rapidly approaching the point where it could be used to reconstruct the entire movements of any individual vehicle.” Some might call that paranoid, but the ACLU said of such accusations, that it is always “amazed by the speed and consistency with which our worst fears for these kinds of technologies turn into reality.”
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ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – Protesters started complaining about the police attention on Facebook. They say police are not being fair.
We know occupy protestors are on the radar of albuquerque police. We’ve seen the arrests and the confrontations.
“Spying? I think the police are watching us very carefully,” said Erica Estes of the Occupy Albuquerque group.
Occupy protesters suspect police are going too far. The group decided their next move with APD in mind.
Their last efforts were stalled when the protesters were met at the Coronado Mall by security and police.
They did have the meet time posted online. But it was Black Friday and the Occupiers thought they’d blend in with the large crowds.
“I would say that they recognized my face, they saw me and they were like, that’s one of them,” said Estes.
Estes says APD appears to be circulating her mug shot and pictures of the protesters. They’re not surprised police could be following their moves, but say there’s a clear line between simple police work and profiling.
“I feel it’s definitely a violation of our rights. I put that in the realm of stalking,” said Occupier Michael Palombo.
A spokesperson for APD says the department respects the Occupiers’ right to protest, still pointing out that the group’s online postings and updates are available to anyone.
Protesters we spoke with say they are preparing a response.
“It’s a formal complaint that’s being drafted right now against APD,” said Palombo.
The Occupiers say the formal complaint will be in the form of a petition sent to the Sheriff’s Department and the Mayor’s Office. They say they hope APD will back off.
Protesters are also taking a different approach for future events. Details for the next one will not be posted on their website.
