A group of Muslim New Yorkers is suing the NYPD over police surveillance in mosques and Muslim organizations. The federal lawsuit alleges that the NYPD violated the constitution by targeting law-abiding Muslims for surveillance and asks that any records collected from the surveillance be destroyed.

The extent of NYPD surveillance of mosques and Muslim organizations in New York and New Jersey was first revealed in a series of investigations by the Associated Press. The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU and others, says the revelations have made imams reluctant to address current affairs in their mosques and undermined community relations with police.

"We are not an anti-engagement or anti-law enforcement community," said Linda Sarsour of the National Network for Arab American Communities. "We are anti-law enforcement misconduct."

One of the plaintiffs, Asad Dandia , a 20-year-old Kingsborough Community College student who co-founded a Muslim service organization, found out last year that a man who had befriended him and joined his group was secretly working as an informant for the NYPD.

Dandia said it was ironic to hear NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly criticize the secrecy of the federal NSA surveillance program in an interview in Tuesday's New York Post. "It's like, be a man of your principle, right? If you're going to condemn one form of surveillance, you should take a look at your own backyard," he said after a press conference outside NYPD headquarters.

In response to the lawsuit, an NYPD spokeswoman said that is lawful for police to attend any event open to the public and it is an important tool to protect New Yorkers from terrorism.

The lawsuit was filed the same week that a Senate committee in New Jersey passed a bill to require that outside police notify state officials before launching surveillance in New Jersey. The bill has already passed the state Assembly.