ACLU Seeks Answers From FBI on the Issue of 'Muslim Mapping'
The ACLU requested FBI records today related to the bureau's use of mapping and data collection technologies to create ethnic maps, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. 
Based on the agency's domestic intelligence guidelines, the FBI is authorized to collect data and map areas where there are large concentrations of "ethnic-oriented" businesses and communities, according to Peter Bibring, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern Califoria.
"This is a clear example of Muslim mapping," Bibring told the paper. "Singling out individuals for investigation surveillance and data gathering based solely on their religion or ethnicity is profiling, pure and simple."
Bibring also noted that the Los Angeles Police Department began to map Muslim communities to find possible terrorist cells back in 2007. The ACLU, Muslim Community and community activists came together to end the practice.
The request by the local affiliate of the ACLU is one of 30 taking place across the country. ACLU offices in different states filed a Freedom of Information Act request from various FBI field offices asking to review the data.
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
