Bloomberg Says Mayoral Hopefuls Stupid on Muslim Surveillance

In his latest shot at the intelligence of the candidates vying to succeed him, Mayor Bloomberg went after them for criticizing the NYPD’s Muslim surveillance program Tuesday.

“You can only hope that they’re smarter than what they say,” Bloomberg said of the mayoral hopefuls.
The surveillance program, which has monitored mosques, student associations, and cafes, came under fire at a mayoral forum on Muslim American issues Sunday.

Controller John Liu called it unconstitutional, while ex-Controller Bill Thompson said it was “disgraceful” and he wouldn’t allow it as mayor.

“They’re saying things for the campaign. Lets get serious here. This is not a policy,” said Bloomberg, who has also shown his strong disdain for the candidates’ stances on stop and frisk.

Bloomberg defended the surveillance. “We listen we look and we try to before things happen, look to see where there might be a problem. Shame on us if we don’t do that,” he said. “We don’t do anything that’s illegal. We don’t tap lines, we don’t go to sites where we’re not allowed to go. But if it’s in the public domain then you would expect us to do that.”

 http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/05/on-muslim-surveillance-bloomberg-questions-mayoral-candidates-intelligence