On paper and sitting next to each other, Talib Abdur-Rashid and Samir Hashmi don't seem to have much in common. Abdur-Rashid is a 64-year-old black man, an imam at a Harlem mosque who wears a kufi and speaks passionately about social justice. Hashmi, 27, is a soft-spoken Pakistani grad student from New Jersey, a business major who dresses like one.
But both men have strong suspicions they were spied on by the New York Police Department's infamous "Demographics Unit"—a surveillance program set up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that labeled entire mosques as terrorist organizations. Hashmi figures his involvement in the Muslim Student Association at Rutgers University placed him squarely in NYPD crosshairs, and as a prominent figure in the New York Muslim community who hasn't exactly been invisible politically, Abdur-Rashid can't help but suspect he's a target, too.
Now both men are suing the NYPD for surveillance records on themselves in what transparency advocates say is an unprecedented case about government secrecy. Public records experts believe the suit is pivotal because the cops will neither confirm nor deny whether the records Hashmi and Abdur-Rashid seek even exist—a response that's common among national security agencies but has never before been established by state or local law enforcement.
This is also the first time state courts in New York have weighed in on this kind of broad claim to secrecy. (The NYPD in January settled two federal lawsuits over the spying itself, as opposed to records of it.) A panel of judges in the appellate division of the New York Supreme Court heard oral arguments in both Hashmi and Abdur-Rashid's cases earlier this month. If the judges rule in favor of the NYPD, they will create a brick wall where none existed before. But advocates see a chance to check the drip of secrecy doctrines from the federal government down to the local level.
Of course, for Hashmi and Abdur-Rashid, the case is really just about the dignity of two United States citizens.
"I wanted to see exactly what . The fact that it has filtered out to local police is troubling, because Glomar leaves the public not even knowing what they don't know."
How Hashmi and Abdur-Rashid's cases play out could impact not just the news-gathering ability of investigative reporters, but the ability of regular citizens to keep their government in check. "For me, as a Pakistani, I felt singled out, but surveillance isn't just a Muslim issue," Hashmi says.
"It's an American issue now," he continues. "We see the NYPD has all types of surveillance and all types of powers, and they're going unchecked. They need to be questioned, and there needs to be a system in place to make sure they aren't abusing their powers."
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