WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Thursday urged the New York Police Department to purge its intelligence databases of information gleaned from its clandestine spying on Muslim neighborhoods.
They also criticized the Obama administration for offering tepid responses to questions about whether it endorses such tactics.
Lawmakers introduced a resolution Thursday calling for an end to NYPD programs that infiltrated mosques and monitored even innocent conversations in cafes and bookstores. Muslim business owners were included in police files, even with no allegations of wrongdoing.
The resolution has little chance of passing, but it followed a heated debate Wednesday night over a House amendment that would have banned racial profiling by any department that receives federal money. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., introduced the amendment, saying wholesale surveillance has proved ineffective in disrupting terrorist plans.
