NYPD Demographics Unit Covertly Surveils Black Muslim Communities

The NYPD Demographics Unit, revealed publicly by AP reporters in 2011 but operational from 2003, infiltrated Black Muslim mosques, student associations at New York-area universities, and businesses with no criminal predicate. The unit mapped Muslim communities and compiled secret files. Black Muslims were doubly targeted: surveilled as both Muslim and as part of NYPD's legacy targeting of Black political and religious life.