NEW YORK (AP) — With its whitewashed bell tower, groomed lawns and Georgian-style buildings, Brooklyn College looks like a slice of 18th Century America dropped into modern-day New York City. But for years New York police have feared this bucolic setting might hide a sinister secret: the beginnings of a Muslim terrorist cell.
Investigators have been infiltrating Muslim student groups at Brooklyn College and other schools in the city, monitoring their Internet activity and placing undercover agents in their ranks, police documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Legal experts say the operation may have broken a 19-year-old pact with the colleges and violated U.S. privacy laws, jeopardizing millions of dollars in federal research money and student aid.
Meanwhile, students said they worried the surveillance on campus could follow them after graduation or extend to their families and workplaces.
“We have nothing to hide. But this is obviously baby steps: it could lead to something greater,” said Sultan Alreyashi, 18, a freshman. “They could say, ‘Oh, now we need to investigate the mosques, now we need to investigate whatever.’ So it becomes very disturbing to the whole community, not just to students in college. You give them a hand, they take a whole arm.”
