Muslims urge resignation of NY police chief over video

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – U.S. Muslim civil rights
groups demanded the resignation of New York Police Commissioner
Ray Kelly today amid a controversy over the repeated
screening of an offensive video.
Kelly said he regretted cooperating with the makers of “The
Third Jihad: Radical Islam’s Vision for America,” which shows
footage of suicide attacks and says “the true agenda of much of
Muslim leadership here in America” is to “infiltrate and
dominate America.”
Kelly came under fire following reports that the video had
been screened many more times than previously acknowledged. When
the video first came to light a year ago, police said it had
been screened only a few times.
In fact, it was shown to more than 1,400 officers over a
period of months, the New York Times reported on Tuesday based
on documents obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a
prominent Muslim civil liberties organization, said Kelly had
disqualified himself to head the country’s largest and most
prominent police force.
“As leaders of the nation’s largest police department,
Commissioner Kelly and Deputy Commissioner (Paul) Browne’s
actions set a tone for relations with law enforcement that
impact American Muslims nationwide,” CAIR National Executive
Director Nihad Awad said in a statement. “It’s time for change.”
CAIR and other civil liberties groups set a news conference
for Thursday at New York City Hall.
The controversy comes as Kelly, who is closely aligned with
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was restoring the police department’s
strained relations with the Muslim minority.
“Somebody exercised some terrible judgment,” Bloomberg told
reporters on Tuesday, referring to the film. “As soon as they
found out about it, they stopped it.”