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NEW BRUNSWICK — The Associated Press filed a lawsuit against New Brunswick Police this morning, seeking the release of a 911 tape that eventually revealed a clandestine command center that helped the New York City Police Department conduct surveillance on Muslims throughout New Jersey, according to court documents.

The suit calls for the release of all 911 recordings and documents related to the June 2, 2009 incident, when a panicked New Brunswick building superintendent stumbled upon an apartment littered with terrorist documents and high-end surveillance equipment, according to the lawsuit.

The apartment turned out to be a secret headquarters for the NYPD’s demographics unit, which spent months cataloging information on the places Muslims ate, prayed, shopped and gathered in Newark, New Brunswick and Princeton.

For nearly a year, the Associated Press has published a series of reports unveiling the secret workings of the NYPD’s demographics unit, which monitored Muslim communities, mosques and student groups throughout the Northeast. In March, the news agency released a 60-page NYPD document that served as an extensive tour guide to Newark’s Muslim population.

According to the lawsuit, Associated Press reporter Adam Goldman filed a request for documents with New Brunswick Police Director Anthony Caputo, seeking "a copy of the 911 call and related radio traffic and all documents and e-mails" concerning the June 2 incident.

Caputo denied the request the same day, claiming the records were protected because their release would jeopardize the security of the building and that the information posed a public safety risk. In his response, Caputo also said the records were protected as part of an ongoing investigation.

Caputo did not immediately return a call seeking a comment.

New Brunswick wants to see the suit.

But the suit scoffs at the police department defense.

"The fact that the information sought may shed light on a secret domestic surveillance program operated by the NYPD does not diminish NBPD’s obligation to justify its reasons for withholding the information," the suit reads. "Nor is there any obvious explanation for how three-year-old information that may touch on the surveillance program, as it then existed, (a) would currently jeopardize the security of a building or the safety (of) a person or property, or (b) could possibly relate to a specific ‘ongoing’ investigation. The information sought by AP should be disclosed."

The suit is the second legal action filed in connection with the NYPD’s surveillance operation this month. Last week, the national advocacy group Muslim Advocates filed a lawsuit on behalf of eight New Jersey Muslims, claiming the NYPD’s actions were discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Related coverage:

• Muslim advocates sue NYPD, saying its N.J. surveillance violated civil rights

• Suit against NYPD asks that surveillance of Muslims based on faith be declared unconstitutional

• Group of N.J. Muslims to file lawsuit against NYPD over surveillance operation

• NYPD did no wrong in secretly surveilling N.J. Muslims, Attorney General report says

• NYPD Muslim probe may have been legal, but wasn't right

• Report: Newark police allowed NYPD to spy on Muslims, build secret files