CAIR expanded its attack on law enforcement Wednesday when it filed a lawsuit against the FBI, alleging it placed a GPS tracking device on the car of a California Muslim. Yasir Afifi found the device on his car on October 3, 2010, which prompted the FBI to demand its return.
Within days of Afifi's discovery of the device, CAIR was by his side, championing his cause.
It's the second lawsuit CAIR filed against the FBI this week. It joined the ACLU in litigation claiming the FBI violated First Amendment rights of hundreds of Muslims through a unrestrained use of informants.
CAIR filed the latest lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., because appellate rulings there require a warrant before law enforcement can place a tracking device. This is in contrast to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco which does not require a warrant for a device that is placed in a public space.
"The biggest thing here is that the FBI is treating American Muslims as suspects instead of partners," said Zahra Billoo, Afifi's attorney and executive director of CAIR in the San Francisco Bay Area.
CAIR's actions toward law enforcement speak louder than its claims of desiring partnership. It routinely opposes terrorism and terror financing investigations
In January, Billoo's CAIR chapter posted a flier on its website urging Muslims to "Build a Wall of Resistance; Don't Talk to the FBI."
The CAIR-Chicago site features an article about an event last month with the "Midwest Regional Conference of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression" at which Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham spoke. The article features a flier headlined "Resist FBI and Grand Jury Repression."