(WASHINGTON, D.C. – 4/2/2022) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed a warning issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James to a “known anti-Muslim hate group to stop spying on Muslim communities.”
Attorney General James sent a cease-and-desist letter to Steven Emerson and the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) “directing them to immediately stop any unlawful and discriminatory surveillance they may be conducting on Muslim communities in New York.”
She also issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) requesting an investigation into IPT’s “possible violations of federal criminal and civil rights laws.”
“As we enter the holy month of Ramadan, it’s more important than ever that we show our support for our Muslim communities and stand up to Islamophobia and hate of any and every kind,” said Attorney General James. “Let me be clear: We will not bow to hate, we will not enable bias, and we will not empower Islamophobia. I urge DOJ to stand with us and use its considerable power to protect Muslim communities throughout New York and across the nation. Our constitution protects the rights of all communities to live without harassment or intimidation; we will remain vigilant in the protection of these rights.”
“We applaud Attorney General James’ efforts to defend the civil rights of American Muslims from hate groups like IPT, and we join her in encouraging the Justice Department to do the same,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “From Malcolm X to the NYPD spying scandal to IPT’s spying on Park51, New York has been one of the key states where bad actors have attempted to infiltrate and harm the Muslim American community. It is long past time for this misconduct to end.”
“As one of the largest Islamic communities in the nation, Muslim New Yorkers appreciate this clear warning to anti-Muslim hate groups to stop targeting our civil and religious rights,” said CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher.
BACKGROUNDER:
Earlier this year, over 80 American Muslim organizations called on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate whether Steven Emerson and the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) violated any federal laws by using paid spies to infiltrate, record and undermine Muslim organizations, houses of worship and leaders, including then-Rep. Keith Ellison, for the benefit of a foreign government.
CAIR joined 82 other Muslim civil society organizations and mosques in sending a joint community letter to the Justice Department urging it to investigate the actions of The Investigative Project (IPT) and Steven Emerson, who has been described as an “anti-Muslim activist” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
DOWNLOAD: American Muslim Community Letter to the Justice Department
In December 2021, CAIR-Ohio announced that its director, Romin Iqbal, had been terminated for passing information about CAIR’s civil rights work to IPT.
Since Iqbal’s exposure, a Virginia Muslim voluntarily came forward to admit and apologize for working as a paid IPT spy from 2008 to 2012. In addition, the IPT whistleblower who first alerted CAIR to IPT’s efforts to target the community released a public statement and participated in an interview with The Washington Post.
The whistleblower provided evidence showing that the hate group had spent years surveilling, spying on national Muslim leaders and organizations in an effort to protect the Israeli government from criticism.
CAIR has released a statement from the IPT whistleblower, a statement from the Virginia Muslim who once worked as a paid spy for IPT, a tax form showing that Emerson’s for-profit corporation paid that individual over $30,000 for one of his years of spying, an excerpt from a dossier that the hate group compiled on former Rep. Keith Ellison, and an excerpt of an IPT transcript of a private meeting that national Muslim leaders held to discuss the Park51 controversy in 2010.
CAIR previously released evidence showing that IPT was communicating, collaborating with and providing assistance to Israeli intelligence officials working in the office of then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
WATCH: CAIR Releases First Samples of Evidence Against Anti-Muslim Hate Group IPT and Steven Emerson
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: Afaf Nasher, Esq. Executive Director, CAIR-NY, 917-669-4006, anasher@cair.com; Ahmed Mohamed, CAIR-NY Legal Director, 646-481-2103, ahmedmohamed@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com