Feed: ACLU, Muslim group sue FBI - AggScore: 11.0

ACLU, Muslim group sue FBI

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caption id alignalignleft width130 captionCAIR is again using the courts to block law enforcement from investigating terrorism cases. Photo Newsbusters img srchttpcdn2b.examiner.comsitesdefaultfilesstyleslargehashb54ecair.jpg alt width130 height93 captionAn informant working for theFederal Bureau of Investigationwas directed toinfiltrate a mosque andviolated the constitutional rights of the worshiping Muslims byconducting surreptitiousindiscriminate surveillance because of their religion, according to ajointlawsuit filed on Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations.The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, named the FBI anda numberof its agents and supervisors, a source told the Law Enforcement Examiner.The federallawsuit alleges that FBI informant Craig Monteilh was ordered by his supervisors to target Muslims for surveillance, violating their First Amendment right to freedom of religion. The lawsuit seeks classaction status, unspecified damages and a court order instructing the FBI to destroy or return the information Monteilh collected.However, several law enforcement officers disagree with the plaintiffs allegationa claiming the surveillance did nothing to impede the Muslims religious practices.Usually these cases are filed regarding theFourth Amendment and emunreasonable emsearch and seizure. In this case the plaintiff is claiming there was a denial of aFirst Amendment right. It will be interesting to see how federal judges adjudicate this case, said former police detective and militaryintelligence officer Mike Snopes.Monteilh admittedlyvisiteda mosque in Orange County, CA, and helped build a criminalcase against an Afghanborn man who was laterarrested on terrorism charges.The lawsuit claims that Monteilhs contacts, FBI special agents Kevin Armstrong and Paul Allen,directed himin thecollection ofemail addresses, telephone numbers and other information about theMuslims and explicitly told Monteilh that Islam was a threat to Americas national security, according to the ACLUs legal brief.An FBIpublic information officer,Laura Eimiller, said when contacted thatshenot able tocomment on theallegations containedin the lawsuit, but shestated that FBI agentsdo not target organizations or individuals based on religion.The agency does not investigate houses of worship or religious groups, but people who are alleged to be involved in criminal activity, regardless of their affiliations, she told reporters who contacted her office.A cold, hard fact is that several terrorist plotshave beenhatched in Mosques throughout the world. In fact, the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 emanated from a Mosque in Jersey City, said political strategist and attorney Mike Baker.In this case, the FBI agents were not monitoring the religious service or the religious practices of worshipers. They were monitoring the activities of a suspect on their radar, added Baker.