Detroit surveillance partnerships with Muslims doubled as informant recruitment

Evidence

Congressman John Dingell (D-MI), senior member of the US House of Representatives, congratulated the “hardworking, patriotic, law-abiding citizens” who pooled their resources to build these impressive institutions. 24 Yet in 2003, FBI agents armed with special radiation-detecting equipment were driving by Detroit mosques-to see if dirty bombs were being assembled in them 25 -even as Homeland Security, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and FBI officials were reaching out to Arab and Muslim community leaders, whom they interfaced with at regular meetings of ALPACT (Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust) and BRIDGES (Building Respect in Diverse Groups to Enhance Sensitivity). As the friendly acronyms suggest, these organizations were designed to represent community concerns and assist federal agencies in their pursuit of information. They were also used to monitor the Arab and Muslim communities and recruit informants from their ranks. 26 Since the 9/11 attacks, the FBI has run massive counterterrorism investigations in greater Detroit, sending special agents into mosques and interviewing religious leaders and laypeople. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 683

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the book’s core premise that inclusion and surveillance operate as a single disciplinary apparatus—the friendly community-engagement acronyms as surveillance front arguably parallels patterns in other securitized communities.