From Mother Jones Magazine
A year ago, Attorney General Eric Holder promised Congress the Justice Department would consider investigating the NYPD’s spying on Muslims. Since then, crickets.
—By Adam Serwer | Thu Apr. 4, 2013 3:00 AM PDT
In early 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder promised members of Congress that the Justice Department was “actively looking at” the New York Police Department’s spying on American Muslims. Now, more than a year later, advocates—and two top Democrats—are still wondering what happened.
“I have patiently waited for the Department of Justice to complete its review of the situation, but it has been nearly two years since the story broke and over a year since the Department of Justice committed to doing a review of NYPD’s actions,” Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif), who was detained in an internment camp during World War II, toldMother Jones. Honda said that the Justice Department should “conduct a full investigation, not a simple review, of the NYPD’s numerous constitutionally questionable actions immediately.”
Muslim advocacy groups have regular interagency meetings with the federal government but have also received no official response on the matter. Nor has Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), who says he “first requested that the department conduct an investigation in response to news reports in September of 2011.” Since then, Holt adds, “I have received no substantive updates from the Justice Department, despite many follow-up inquiries. To my knowledge, no investigation has been conducted.”
