New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Friday that "The Third Jihad," a film labeling many American Muslim leaders as extremists, "should not have been shown" to city officers. He said that the film was played on a loop for officers during 2010 in a waiting area outside a counterterrorism training course.
| But now, somehow, everyone able to read knows not only about the film, but the title. How many private viewings have taken place in living rooms around NYC since the story broke? |
Kelly placed responsibility for the decision to show the film on a sergeant, whom he did not identify. He told reporters, "A sergeant, I think well meaning, took this film and put it in a loop in a room that was outside of the training area."
The disclosure that the Police Department showed the film to many police officers has strained ties between it and the city's Muslim community. The film claims that "much of Muslim leadership here in America" desires to "infiltrate and dominate" the US. Kelly, on Friday, characterized the film "as "inflammatory" and "a little much."
The film includes an interview with Kelly; in his brief appearance, he discusses the general threat of a nuclear or biological terror attack on the city but does not mention Muslims. Kelly played down his involvement in the film, saying he often sits for interviews. He said, "In this job, you do a lot of interviews."
Kelly suggested that the decision to screen the film did not go through ordinary channels. He said that ordinarily the department's counterterrorism division approved the material that was used for its training. But in this case the film "was never approved" by the division. The sergeant who screened the film was not part of the counterterrorism division, he said.
Kelly said that he first saw the film last Tuesday, the day after an article in The New York Times said that at least 1,489 police officers had seen it. |