share your thoughts about work done by CAIR and other organizations mentioned in this brief?
How to Protect You & Your Family in Response to Latest Reports
of FBI Targeting Law-Abiding Muslim, Arab Americans
View “Got Rights?” Educational Video, Share with Friends & Family
San Francisco, CA – The Associated Press yesterday reported that “[t]he Justice Department is considering letting the FBI investigate Americans without any evidence of wrongdoing, relying instead on a terrorist profile that could single out Muslims, Arabs or other racial and ethnic groups.” Muslim Advocates has heard from a number of community members expressing concern and seeking advice regarding this development.
(1) Know Your Rights & What to Do If the FBI Contacts You or Your Family
This news story and the forthcoming Justice Department guidelines are an unfortunate reminder that law-abiding Muslim Americans remain the target of FBI investigations. What can Muslim Americans do? First and foremost, Muslim Advocates urges all Americans to know their rights and how to assert those rights when approached by the FBI.
View our 15-min educational video online: “Got Rights? Protecting Yourself & Your Family at Home and the Airport”
http://www.muslimadvocates.org/get_involved/got_rights.html
(2) Share this video with your family, friends and acquaintances
(3) If you have been contacted or interviewed by the FBI, please share your story with us
Muslim Advocates is collecting information about community members’ encounters with the FBI. This information collection allows us to monitor the extent and nature of the interviews taking place in the Muslim, Arab and South Asian American communities. Please share your story with us by completing our online form:http://www.muslimadvocates.org/forms/intake_form_english/
In addition, we report that following the news story, Muslim Advocates, along with representatives of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Arab American Institute (AAI), and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), spoke with senior FBI officials. These officials suggested that the new investigative guidelines will not substantially expand the FBI’s authority, which was previously expanded by then-Attorney General Ashcroft in 2002 to allow for investigations without any evidence of wrongdoing, and that the guidelines remain in a draft stage at the Justice Department.
Muslim Advocates does not find this response satisfactory and will continue to press federal officials to ensure that the rights of law-abiding Americans are fully respected in all federal investigative activities.
For more information, visit www.muslimadvocates.org