An internal NYPD document recently obtained by the Associated Press shows that in 2006 NYPD analysts advised the department to infiltrate a number of Shiite mosques because of tensions between the U.S. and Iran. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has vigorously denied that the NYPD targets Muslims for surveillance, insisting that "We don't do it ethnically, we do it geographically." But a series of in-depth AP articles have repeatedly contradicted Kelly, revealing that the NYPD does in fact have a wide-ranging surveillance operation designed to infiltrate Muslim communities and mosques. (It's even called the Demographics Unit—not the Geographics Unit.) And the latest AP scoop is further evidence of the role religion plays in NYPD spying. more ›

Marshall Curry has profiled NASCAR hopefuls and Newark Mayor Corey Booker (which earned him an Oscar nomination), and his latest, If A Tree Falls, follows the plight of Daniel McGowan, a former member of the Earth Liberation Front, a group that the F.B.I. once dubbed "America's #1 domestic terrorist threat." Curry traces McGowan's journey from his identity as the mild-mannered son of an NYPD officer to a radical environmental activist in the Pacific Northwest, carrying out arson in the name of the ELF, and back again. McGowan faces a life sentence plus 335 years for committing acts of terrorism, and his guilt is never in doubt. But the movie forces us to think about who a "terrorist" is, and how our society treats citizens who feel that they have no voice. more ›

Remember Jose Pimentel, the "lone wolf" terrorist the NYPD arrested last year after a tip from a questionable informant? The one whose first lawyer said he was entrapped and whose case the FBI absolutely, to the NYPD's embarrassment, wanted nothing to do with? Well, the Manhattan's DA office is reportedly working on a plea deal for the "stoned squirrel" as you read this, despite the fact they haven't actually indicted him yet. more ›

14 Muslim leaders have fired off a sternly-worded letter to Mayor Bloomberg announcing their intention to boycott his annual interfaith breakfast on Friday, which brings together religious and political leaders from all over the spectrum for a friendly coffee klatsch. At issue is a damning series of articles in the Associated Press detailing the NYPD's targeting of Muslim communities for surveillance. Commissioner Ray Kelly has firmly denied this, telling the City Council, "We don't do it ethnically, we do it geographically. We don't racially profile, we follow leads wherever those leads take us." The NYCLU, however, calls it a "rogue domestic surveillance operation," and in November hundreds of Muslims demonstrated outside police headquarters. more ›

Back in 2009, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland was released from prison on "compassionate" grounds, ostensibly because he was expected to die from prostate cancer within three months. (The real reason, according to a U.S. Senate report, had to do with lucrative Libyan oil contracts sought by British-based oil giant BP.) Upon his return to Tripoli, al-Megrahi received a hero's welcome, and he's been living in luxury ever since. But in August, he told CNN he really is so totally going to die soon. And now he's giving ONE FINAL INTERVIEW, before disappearing into Al Capone's vault for good. more ›

On the eve of the second anniversary of the Christmas Day underwear bomber, a man who helped stop the would-be bomber before he could blow up a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit is suing for $10 million. Theophilus Maranga, a Dutchess County resident, has filed the lawsuit against thwarted terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Delta Air Lines, and Air France-KLM. In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court yesterday, Maranga says he “risked his life” by jumping on Umar Faroul Abdulmutallab after the Nigerian student lit his shorts on fire. more ›

After being inexplicably denied at the airport in Lima, Peru early Saturday morning, New York native and paroled terrorist collaborator Lori Berenson will be allowed to fly to NYC to visit her family until January 11. "She called and said, 'I've got the permission to leave' and the next step is for her to get on a plane and get here," Berenson's father Mark told the AP. "I'm just glad they finally resolved the thing." more ›

Lori Berenson, the New Yorker who served 15 years of a prison sentence in Peru as a convicted terrorist, said Peruvian immigration officials prevented her from visiting the US yesterday despite a court-order that allowed her to travel to New York City until January 11. "They said I needed a document for immigration and I didn't have it," she told the Times, "so they wouldn't let me leave the country. Berenson is currently on parole through November of 2015, and her attorney called the actions "an abuse of authority." more ›

[UPDATE] Berenson was stopped at the airport by Peruvian officials. "They didn't let me leave and they're putting out this version that I arrived late," Berenson told the AP earlier today. "An abuse of authority has been committed," her attorney said. "Administratively, you can't block a court order." On Wednesday, a three-judge panel agreed to allow the visit, and Peruvian officials denied to comment on why Berenson and her 2-year-old son Salvador, have been denied the trip to New York. more ›

Accused "lone wolf" terrorist Jose Pimentel has been assigned a new attorney, after the Legal Aid Society learned that it was representing the informant in the case for an unrelated criminal matter. Pimentel's new counsel is Lori Cohen, a private criminal defense attorney who defended the Egyptian banker accused to assaulting a housekeeper last spring, and has several homicide cases under her belt. "The credibility of the person who led him to do those things will certainly be an issue," Cohen tells DNAinfo, referring to reports that the case against Pimentel may be tainted by entrapment. more ›

At a hastily-assembled press conference Sunday night, Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly stated that arresting 27-year-old terror suspect Jose Pimentel was an urgent priority "before he could detonate a fully-operated bomb." But the FBI's refusal to take the case based on "holes" and entrapment issues as well as the revelations that Pimentel, a frequent marijuana smoker, had attempted to circumcise himself pose the salient question: was Pimentel ever a serious threat to society? more ›

The mother of Jose Pimentel, the alleged "lone wolf" terrorist the NYPD happily trotted out before the cameras yesterday, has apologized to the city just as neighbors are starting to show up for the obligatory "never saw it coming" quotes. "I want to apologize to the city," Carmen Sosa told reporters today. "I love New York and I’ve been here since 1987. I’m very disappointed by what my son is doing." more ›

[UPDATES BELOW] NBC reports that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Manhattan DA Cy Vance are scheduled to make an announcement at 7:30 p.m. tonight—the announcement is "likely terrorism related." MSNBC's Meg Robertson reports that it's "confirmed" that the announced is terrorism related. We'll update this post as we learn more information. more ›

A pilot in a LaGuardia-bound flight from North Carolina got locked in the bathroom of his own plane last night, triggering an accent-fueled terror scare that was completely, totally, absolutely, ridiculously unnecessary. more ›

Russian national Viktor Bout was "convicted on four counts of conspiring to kill Americans, exporting anti-aircraft missiles and aiding terrorists - the Colombian FARC," according to the Daily News. Bout, whose exploits dealing arms to people like Liberia’s Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi inspired the moniker "Merchant of Death," was tried in federal court in lower Manhattan, and the jury deliberated for eight hours today after the three-week trial. more ›

The NYPD's controversial spying programs don't just include "sending undercover officers into ethnic and Muslim neighborhoods to act like 'a human camera' and 'map the human terrain' in mosques, hookah bars, and Internet cafes." Turns out they also involve flat out spying on college students. And students, faculty and legal experts are, understandably, furious. The multi-year police operation violates U.S. privacy laws and could jeopardize millions of dollars in federal research money and student aid. more ›

Police commissioner Ray Kelly is tasked with the important job of protecting us from Islam terrorism, and in order to do this effectively, he may have to spy on Muslims. To make a safety omelet, you have to crack a few Korans! Unfortunately, the city council didn't take too kindly to Kelly's counterterrorism tactics of trailing terror-denouncing imams or violating the rights of innocent people, and grilled him at a hearing on Thursday. Kelly can take care of himself, but the New York Post's editorial board is here to help: "Kelly refused to apologize for a decade of brilliant police work. Good for him." Damn straight. Love is never having to say "I'm sorry (I pulled you over because of the color of your skin)." more ›

Lower Manhattan is getting messy. Beyond the people who live and work there, and ignoring all those occupiers, 9/11 tourists are apparently overloading the areas bathroom and garbage can supply. And don't expect a fix coming anytime soon! We've known since May that there wouldn't be any bathrooms at the 9/11 Memorial until its sibling Museum opens next year, but it seems that no matter how much neighbors beg for them, there won't even be any Porta-Potties for the visitors in the meantime. Why? Because of the terrorists, of course. more ›

In late August, the Associated Press published an exposé about the NYPD's partnership with the Central Intelligence Agency to spy on Muslims in NYC. Unsurprisingly, the NYCLU is challenging the partnership in court, and yesterday filed a motion to determine whether the spying operation violates an existing court order—the Handschu Guidelines, which are named after a 1971 plaintiff in a lawsuit against the NYPD accusing them of violating the constitution while investigating political groups. more ›

Yesterday the City Council held hearings on three new bills that would require the DOT to "present bike projects to community boards, coordinate with other agencies before implementation, and report back on the results," as Streetsblog puts it. The thing is, the DOT already does this: despite what the anti-cyclist reactionaries would have you believe, existing law already requires CB hearings prior to the installation of most bike lanes (yes, even the Prospect Park bike lane, which opponents falsely claim was rammed down Park Slope's throat). But cycling advocates fear one of the bills could tangle the city's robust bike lane expansion in red tape. more ›

The NYPD has released a new version of the "Best Practices for Nightlife Establishments," a guide to help nightclub owners spot criminal activity. In addition to offering advice about preventing sexual assaults and handling a crime scene, this edition of the guide has a completely new section all about spotting terrorists. You can read it in full below, but here are the main things bouncers are being told to watch out for: more ›

Midtown has been flooded with cops ever since the failed Times Square bombing, but rapes still rose 146 percent in the area last year, while felony assaults increased 14 percent in the area—from 274 in 2009 to 313 in 2010, according to the most recent crime stats. But don't worry, the NYPD is staying focused on the real threat to security: cyclists. Officers in the Midtown North precinct have issued 567 summonses to cyclists in the first five months of this year, more than any other precinct. Because, as one intrepid TV news reporter once put it, "Imagine if the man on the bike was a terrorist!" more ›

Last night, Jon Stewart shared a promo for a very special Daily Show segment, ostensibly airing tonight, on 9/13 (unless this too is a joke). Called simply, "The Daily Show Remembers 9/13/2001: Remembering The Day We Forgot The Lessons Of The Day We Swore We Would Always Remember," the segment promises to look back on all the low points of 9/11 exploitation, which began two days after the attacks, with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson blaming pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, the ACLU and others for "helping" 9/11 happen. more ›

What does "The War on Terror" mean? Is it the legal authority granted to the president by Congress to use all "necessary and appropriate force" against the people, countries or organizations that "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the September 11 attacks? Is it taking your shoes off at airport security, or seeing something and saying something? Is it what 7,497 coalition members and hundreds of thousands of civilians died for in the Middle East? This, rather than "It's time to end the War on Terror," was the main topic of debate Wednesday night at NYU's Skirball center, much to the audience's befuddlement. more ›

Investigators are trying to track down at least three men believed to be involved in a "vehicle-borne" terrorist attack anticipated in NYC or Washington D.C. to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The three men traveled by plane to the U.S. last month from Afghanistan, one law enforcement official tells the Times, adding that one of the men is an American citizen. ABC reports that two of the individuals may have had U.S. documentation, and hears they came from tribal areas of Pakistan, where the threat intelligence originated. more ›

Remember the "Ground Zero" mosque—the controversial community and prayer center that will probably never have enough money to be built a couple of blocks from the World Trade Center site? Don't think just because the project is financially stalled that it ain't gonna happen—the Christian Action Network is making sure Americans know that this is still a threat. The group, which states its mission as "protecting America's religious and moral heritage," is releasing a documentary called Sacrificed Survivors: The Untold Story of the Ground Zero Mega-Mosque. And they've rallied the relatives of 9/11 victims to the cause. more ›

It comes as no surprise that newly released audio recordings from the morning of 9/11 are extremely heavy, but it's also strange to find that something so disturbing could also be so difficult to turn off. Go to the NY Times website, click play at the beginning, and listen in as various air traffic controllers, hijacked passengers, and other helpless authorities try to piece together what the hell is happening. It's sickeningly immediate, as if that horrific morning were unfolding again right in front of you, and maybe if you could just scream loud enough, maybe you could do something. more ›

While President Obama draws down troop commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, make no mistake: the War on Terror is still being waged, from heightened airport security measures to the fact that the CIA has turned into a killing machine. But with the death of Osama bin Laden, the (arguably) diminishing influence of Al Qaeda, and the risk of turning the War on Terror into the War on Drugs, should we call it quits? more ›

After questioning the credibility of reports that Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi is once again close to death, New York Senator Chuck Schumer has written a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to withhold aid to Libya's nascent governing body, the National Transition Council. "If the new Libyan government continues to shield this convicted terrorist from justice, then they should not get one more cent of support from the United States," Schumer writes. more ›