NJ gov: Report of spying on Muslims ‘disturbing’
Feb 22, 2012, 8:07 PM
PALISADES PARK, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is calling a report of a police surveillance operation targeting Muslims in Newark “disturbing.” He also says he doesn’t recall ever being briefed about the spying in 2007 while he was the state’s top federal prosecutor.
Christie says he has no knowledge of the operation. And he says the New York Police Department wouldn’t have had jurisdiction in New Jersey unless it was working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark or another agency. Newark’s top officials say the city didn’t know anything about the nature of the NYPD operation.
The NYPD photographed mosques and eavesdropped on conversations in businesses frequented by Muslims in Newark.
Christie told a news conference in Palisades Park that the state attorney general is investigating the report.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
