‘Fox And Friends’ Laments End Of ‘Respectful’ NYPD Muslim Spying Unit (VIDEO)

The hosts of “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday bashed the New York Police Department and Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) for shutting down the Demographics Unit, a program that employed plainclothes officers to spy in Muslim communities.

Co-host Brian Kilmeade questioned why the NYPD would put an end to the program, even though the department has recognized that it did not gain any substantial leads.

“We have a program here that was able to go infiltrate — in a very mature, respectful way — and find out what is happening in the mosques and different Muslim communities in New York City. Because this is the number one terror target, and the Muslim community gets infiltrated by extremists, and we wanted to know who they are before they hit,” Kilmeade said.

In 2011, an investigation by the Associated Press revealed details about the secretive unit, prompting members of the Muslim community to call for the NYPD to shut down the program.

Both co-host Steve Doocy and Kilmeade placed blame for the end of the surveillance unit on the AP report.

“And then the next thing you know, the Associated Press runs a story on it. There was outrage. And then Mayor De Blasio, who won, ran on, ‘If I’m elected, I’m going to get rid of this program,'” Doocy said.

“If those in the Muslim community were actually upset by this, they would have come forward before the AP did this report,” Kilmeade added later.

Kilmeade quoted former New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who has said that the program was put in place to “protect the Muslim community, as well as those who go to New York City.”

Watch the full segment via Raw Story: