CAIR releases update after lawsuit filed against OKCPD

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma’s Council on American-Islamic Relations is crediting the Oklahoma City Police Department for its actions after a lawsuit was filed last week.

Over the final a number of months, representatives for Saadiq Long say he’s been pulled over a number of occasions.

“Our client, Saadiq Long, is a law abiding American citizen,” mentioned Hannah Mullen, Attorney for CAIR. “He was born here in Oklahoma and served his country in the Air Force for 11 years. He pays his taxes, works hard and provides for his family. They are frightened that one day when Sadiq gets in his car to go to work or to run errands, he won’t come home.”

Attorneys from CAIR-Oklahoma say Long is on the FBI’s terror watch record, however he has no thought why.

“He has never been investigated, indicted, tried or convicted of any crime,” Mullen mentioned. “The federal government has never provided any explanation for turning his life upside down and placing him on that list.”

Long sued the federal authorities in 2015 for his unexplained placement on the No Fly List and his identify was eliminated – however his attorneys imagine the actions of Oklahoma City police counsel that his identify is on a number of watchlists.

CAIR filed a lawsuit, saying the Oklahoma City Police Department was utilizing the watchlist to justify unlawful site visitors stops.

Since KFOR’s original story, the Oklahoma City Police Department acknowledged that “neither Saadiq Long nor any other person should be stopped by officers based solely on that individual’s” standing on the FBI’s watchlist.  

⏩ Find more Top Stories from KFOR.com

Days after the lawsuit was filed, the division “issued instructions to all officers that neither Saadiq Long nor any other person listed” by the FBI “should be stopped based solely on the list.”  

“We welcome the Oklahoma City Police Department’s actions, and hope that law enforcement agencies across the country will follow their example,” mentioned CAIR lawyer Hannah Mullen. “However, neither this case nor our fight against the these secret lists are over. After all the evidence comes in, we think the federal court will agree that simply being on the FBI’s illegal list is no reason to pull someone over — let alone arrest them at gunpoint.”