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Conyers Calls On Civil Rights Division to Review Abdullah Shooting and FBI Infiltration of Mosques

Congressman John Conyers

For Immediate Release
January 13, 2010
Contact: Jonathan Godfrey
Nicole Triplett

(Washington, D.C.) --  In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) called for the Civil Rights Division to investigate whether the FBI’s use of undercover agents in American mosques and other houses of worship violates the First Amendment. Such an investigation would be conducted pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 14141, a civil rights statute championed by Conyers in the early 1990s. Chairman Conyers also sought Mr. Holder’s personal assurance that the Department’s ongoing investigation into the October 28, 2009, shooting of a Detroit Imam would be rigorous, thorough, and transparent, and noted the significant public concern about the matter.

"The shooting of Imam Abdullah has been controversial from the moment the first bullets flew, and passions continue to rise in Detroit and around the world. A complete and fully transparent investigation is needed," Conyers said, "including real accountability for anyone found to have violated the law or Department of Justice policies."

"Beyond the shooting itself, the investigation must look at further questions about religious freedom in this country," Conyers continued. "Individuals who bring suspicion upon themselves through their actions should surely be investigated, but our traditions – and our constitution – simply do not permit undercover fishing expeditions in our nation’s houses of worship. Good relations between the FBI and our Muslim communities are critical to our national security, and current practices may be putting those relations under unreasonable, and potentially unlawful, strain."

Full text of the letter is linked here.

 

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