Rally Against Racial Profiling after Flushing Raids
NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS) -- After the recent terror raids in Flushing, Queens, many Muslims of the community say they are being racially profiled by law enforcement officials.
On Saturday, the Muslim community and supporters held a news conference calling for law enforcement officials to conduct their investigations in a respectful manner.
Steve Sandberg Reports
The friend of an Afghan-born immigrant accused of planning a terror attack in New York City said Saturday that his life has been put "on hold'' because of the federal investigation into the accusations.
Naiz Khan said during a rally organized by Muslim advocates outside the Flushing Public Library in Queens that he has been unable to get a job or to travel to Pakistan to see his wife and children for the Eid al-Fitr holiday since his friend of nearly 10 years, Najibullah Zazi, became the focus of the terror probe.
"My personal life has been so affected,'' Khan said.
Last month, Zazi stayed at Khan's apartment during a visit to New York City, leading authorities to raid the apartment as part of the investigation centered on Zazi, who has denied being involved in a plot and is being held without bail after pleading not guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction.
Khan has said that he did nothing wrong and that he has been under constant surveillance by authorities.
He said at the rally that people in the Afghan immigrant community are living in fear because of law enforcement tactics, such as raids and what he said was racial profiling.
Yesha Mahmooda, an organizer of the rally and member of the immigrant rights group Desis Rising Up and Moving, said she has heard from many community members complaining of being watched by law enforcement officials.
"They are very scared of being surveilled,'' Mahmooda told the Daily News in Saturday editions.
Other Muslim advocates said that a climate of fear in their community had led to plummeting attendance at Abu Bakar Mosque in Queens.
The NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne says, "The NYPD does not engage in racial profiling. We follow leads based on evidence of criminality."
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