Since Mike Bloomberg announced his presidential bid in November, Rowaida Abelzaziz has written about his legacy as mayor of NYC, in particular how he ran a secret program that spied on American Muslims, a gross violation of civil rights. Bloomberg has never apologized for his actions. Indeed, on Thursday night he went on PBS and defended his actions.
What initially spurred you to write about Bloomberg’s legacy?
When Bloomberg first announced his run for president, my immediate thought was of the NYPD Muslim surveillance program. Yet it felt like no one else remembered the severe impact this program had on Muslims, not just in New York, but up and down the East Coast.
The program placed undercover informants in predominately Muslim communities. When the program was exposed, it confirmed many Muslims’ worst fears and effectively tarnished any trust between Muslims and law enforcement, as well as the government as a whole.
Islamophobia is a prevalent issue impacting Muslims across this nation. In order to address the rising anti-Muslim bigotry, within policies, inside schools, or at the workplace, it’s important to hold leaders who enabled this problematic rhetoric, to be held accountable. Until this day, Bloomberg has not been called out on the program and has only defended it.
In the course of your reporting did you discover anything new that was surprising?
It continues to frustrate me how little attention this program has received. Not a single debate moderator has brought it up to Bloomberg despite various civil rights groups asking them to do so. Several organizations have also sent Bloomberg letters, particularly after a report came out that exposed senior-level members of the Center for American Progress who removed eight mentions of Bloomberg’s name ― and more than 4,000 words about the New York City Police Department surveilling Muslim communities.
It’s an alarming trend that Muslim civil rights can be brushed under the rug so frequently when money is involved.
What kind of impact did the story have?
Bloomberg tweeted his support for Muslims. I’d like to think my incessant emails to his campaign and subsequent reporting prompted it.
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