Panel to discuss NYPD’s spying on upstate Muslims

AMHERST — The New York Police Department’s intelligence-gathering program that scrutinized Muslims included surveillance of students at the University at Buffalo.

Members of Buffalo-area law enforcement agencies are joining civil liberties advocates for a public discussion of the questions raised by the NYPD’s aggressive domestic intelligence efforts after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The gathering is being held Tuesday evening at the Student Union Theater on UB’s North Campus in suburban Amherst. The event is hosted by the Muslim Public Affairs Council-Western New York.

Panelists include Buffalo-based U.S. Attorney William Hochul Jr., Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard and John Curr of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The Associated Press last month won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for stories revealing the NYPD’s spying on Muslim businesses, mosques and student groups.