NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly Urged to Resign After Police Conceal Role in Anti-Muslim Documentary

[EFerrari]

Representatives from the New York City Muslim community, together with local ethnic and interfaith groups, gathered at City Hall Thursday calling for the resignation of New York City Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly and police spokesperson Paul Browne after it was revealed an anti-Muslim film, "The Third Jihad," was screened to nearly 1,500 officers during training. After initial denials, the NYPD admitted the officers were shown the film in training and that Kelly gave the filmmakers a 90-minute interview. Kelly has now apologized. The controversy comes at a time when relations between the police and the Muslim community are already strained due to recent revelations that the police department has operated a secret surveillance program targeting Muslim neighborhoods. We speak with Arab-American activist Linda Sarsour, who was honored last month at the White House as a "Champion of Change." [includes rush transcript]

JUAN GONZALEZ: A coalition of New York Muslim and interfaith groups gathered at City Hall Thursday calling for the resignation of New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and police spokesperson Paul Browne. The protest was held after it was revealed the police department had shown an anti-Muslim film titled The Third Jihad to nearly 1,500 officers during training. This is part of that film.

snip

AMY GOODMAN: When The Village Voice's Tom Robbins first reported on the film a year ago, the New York Police Department had claimed it had only been shown a couple of times and that the department did not participate in its making. But earlier this week, the police department admitted nearly 1,500 officers were shown the film in training and that the New York Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, gave the filmmakers a 90-minute interview. Part of Kelly's interview appears in the film.

COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY: Our nightmare scenario is a nuclear detonation. And the second down, the second rung from that, you might say, is a dirty bomb.

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/27/nypd_commissioner_ray_kelly_urged_to

If you can stream, watch the video of this story. It's unbelievable. The CIA tie-in to the NYPD surveillance on the Muslim community is also discussed. Must see teevee, imo.

[Dawson Leery]

1. There is a reason why I have never voted for Sheriff or DA.

[EFerrari]

2. NYPD is really in the toilet, imho.

When you watch this report, put it together with their assaults on Occupy, on young black men, on gays, on women, man, the picture is repulsive.

[Dawson Leery]

4. Ray Kelly is a slick talker.

Kelly's surface image is that of a congenial and fair person. Behind the scenes he is an authoritarian.

See this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=10400

[sabrina 1]

3. Thanks, he definitely should step down. His Department has been riddled with

scandal, from ticket-fixing to racism (stop and frisk) to not reporting on or lowering crimes from felonies to misdeamors to make it look like crime was down in NYC.

Not to mention his handling of the DSK case and who he might really have been working on that.

Now, his own son has been accused of rape, but notice the difference in treatment compared to DSK. No perp walk, no arrest, no jail and no Spokesperson Brown (Mr. Truth) distorting the information for media consumption.

He is an arrogant, authoritarian, who thinks he's king of NYC and in a way, has been, for far too long.

This Muslim case is yet another of the abuse of power his department has engaged in and the funds they are now getting from Homeland Security, has only made the 'homeland' less secure as people like him use it against the people.

Then there is the other scandal regarding the whistle-blower who reported on the scams the NYPD was engaged in after which Kelly's Dept sent out a mob of cops to drag him out of his home and send him for 'psychiatric evaluation'. Turns out the guy was right. That has yet to be settled also.

[EFerrari]

5. Listening to that film clip reminded me of the most radical right wing anti-Obama ads

I've heard on cable. It's mind bending to find out that "New York's finest" were trained to it.

[sabrina 1]

6. I haven't listened to it yet but have read about it and will listen to it now that

I finally have some time. But the racism in that Dept is beyond belief. I know some cops from the NYPD who live on LI. That's one the problems too, many of them cannot relate to the people they are supposed to be protecting. But there is definitely, even among the nicer ones, a racist attitude. And an anti-immigration attitude.

I don't know if there is any hope for the NYPD. I was shocked when I saw people calling them heroes after 9/11 as I was to see Giuliani, the weasel who was at about 28% approval rating in NY, hailed as a hero also. A tragedy occurred, it did not change anything about the NYPD, other than to make them worse since now they use it to justify all their racist actions.

Here is a very good blog written by a prize-winning reporter who focuses on the NYPD http://nypdconfidential.com/ It was he who exposed the French Connection, re Ray Kelly and Sarkozy during the DSK debacle. Ray Kelly behaves like an international politician instead of a Police Commissioner.

[sabrina 1]

7. Meant to say regarding not having much hope for the NYPD, they have had

many scandals involving incredible corruption in their history, and each time there are revelations like that, they supposedly work to change things. But it never really happens. Giuliani used the NYPD also to round up the poor, the homeless and minorities to 'clean up the city' for the wealthy. He did that, but at the expense of the poor. The racism of that Dept was rampant during his reign, many shootings of minorities by the cops with him always defending them, no matter how wrong they were.

I don't know what the solution is, but to be a minority and/or poor in NYC is pretty dangerous, and every mother knows that her sons are at risk from the Police, if they are African American especially.

[limpyhobbler]

8. Ray Kelly has to go. I think he'll be gone in a week.

If NYPD has this kind of money to waste on programs that are this useless, counterproductive and discriminatory, then I think maybe they have some fat on their budget. In a time of budgetary belt tightening we* can no longer afford to pay NYPD to harass the people of New York.

*(I'm not from New York but I expect they are getting alot of federal money).

[Matthew Swaye]

9. Stop & Frisk is White Supremacy

Ray Kelly's high quotas have turned our communities into open air prisons. Stop&Frisk is the New Jim Crow. Black and Brown NYCers do not have 1st and 4th Amendment rights under oink Bloomberg. RESIST

Elders Arrested By NYPD in Harlem Jan. 5, 2012

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