Police Surveillance of Carter and Combs Was ‘Unlawful’

Rap moguls Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs were closely monitored by the New York Police Department (NYPD) months before they attended a demonstration in the city in 2004 — surveillance which has been deemed “unlawful.”

The details of the NYPD operation were revealed in a 600-page top secret document, which was released yesterday by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The Union is suing the authorities on behalf of those demonstrators arrested at the event.

The NYPD is accused of recording information about activity that was completely peaceful and legal.

The documents state that rapper LL Cool J and singer Alicia Keys were also spied on by the authorities in the weeks leading up to their attendance of the Republican National Convention.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU, tells AllHipHop.com, “These documents paint a picture of a surveillance program that was broad, clumsy, and often unlawful.

“The NYPD failed to differentiate between unlawful behavior and behavior that is not only lawful but should in fact be cherished and protected. Today the public can finally bear witness to that failure.”

© 2007 Hearst Communications Inc.

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