Last Wednesday, a group of New Jersey Muslims filed a lawsuit against the City of New York, accusing the NYPD of taking unlawful and discriminatory surveillance measures against them.

“The NYPD’s program targeted innocent Americans solely based on their religious identity,” said Farhana Khera, president and executive director of the legal advocacy group Muslim Advocates, which filed the suit on behalf of the eight plaintiffs.

“That’s why we believe it is unlawful and needs to stop,” Khera said.

Muslim Advocates says it wants an end to the department’s “invasive and discriminatory” surveillance program, which it claims targeted at least 20 mosques, 14 restaurants, 11 retail stores, two grade schools and two Muslim student associations throughout New Jersey. The group also wants all related records from the covert program expunged, according to the complaint.

According to NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, police were in compliance with overarching counterterrorism efforts and standards.

“I refer you to the New Jersey Attorney General’s report and to the fact that NYPD activities in New Jersey were lawful, appropriate, and in keeping with efforts there, in New York, and around the world to prevent terrorists from returning here to kill more New Yorkers,” Browne said in e-mail.

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