By Colin Campbell 2/27/12 8:33am

eye in the sky

(Photo: Getty)

Ray Kelly: ‘Spying’ Is a ‘Pejorative Term’

Congressman Pete King, hosting John Gambling’s radio show this morning, interviewed New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly about the recent criticism the NYPD has received over its extensive surveillance of Muslim businesses and mosques. Both the interviewer and interviewee blasted the media for calling the NYPD’s actions “spying.”

“I just wish the media would show some responsibility and use the words ‘surveillance’ or ‘police investigation’ rather than ‘spying.’ To use that term, to be accusing you of ‘spying,’ is, to me, really offensive,” Mr. King said, asking Mr. Kelly what he thought of the issue.

“It’s a pejorative term, it sells well,” Mr. Kelly responded. “They forget we’ve the subject of 14 plots since 9/11 … We’ve been lucky. We just have been lucky.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 2/24/12 9:17am

nypd blues

(Photo: Getty)

Bloomberg on NYPD Spying: We’re Going to Do Everything We Legally Can

On John Gambling’s radio show this morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg took some time to defend the New York Police Department, which is under criticism for spying on Muslims throughout the Northeast, including sending an agent on a whitewater rafting trip while counting how many times a day some Muslim students prayed. Today, the Associated Press further reported the NYPD “targeted Muslim mosques with tactics normally reserved for criminal organizations.” Mr. Bloomberg didn’t have any problem with these actions, however.

“Our primary objective is to prevent things from happening,” Mr. Bloomberg explained. “We’ve got to do everything that the law permits us to do to prevent another terror attack, and we cannot forget that.”

“We’re going to continue to take all possible legal steps to keep this city safe. We’re going to follow all possible leads wherever they take us,” he repeated later in the interview. Read More

By Hunter Walker 1/03/12 8:05pm

Heat

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Imam Maan Al-Sahlani at this afternoon's press conference. (Getty)

Frappuccino Firebombing Exposes Lingering Tensions Between NYPD and Muslims

A Starbucks Frappuccino may have been the catalyst for a crime that made waves from City Hall all the way to Iraq and exposed simmering tensions between the NYPD and New York’s Muslim community. As of this writing, police are questioning a person of interest in a spree of Molotov cocktail attacks that occurred Sunday night at five locations in Queens and Long Island including the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation, a Muslim mosque, community center and school in Jamaica, and a bodega on nearby Hillside Avenue. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters at a press conference at Al-Khoei this afternoon that police believe one person was responsible for the attacks and that the firebomber may have been angered after workers at the bodega stopped him from stealing a Frappuccino. At the same presser, Commissioner Kelly shot down a reporter who asked about police surveillance of Muslims and mosque officials quieted a man who interrupted the proceedings by angrily shouting about the NYPD’s “attack” on Pakistanis. Read More