According to the documents, prominent Muslim American leaders such as Nihad Awad, the executive director for the Council on American Islamic Relations, were under surveillance by the U.S. government and had their emails monitored by the FBI. Faisal Gill, a Republican party operative, was also one of the names on the list. Even though President George W. Bush had appointed Gill as a policy director for the Department of Homeland Security, he was not immune from surveillance by the government. None of these Muslim American leaders have a criminal record nor has their surveillance resulted in their arrest, but their Muslim identity was enough to raise suspicion and justify their surveillance.

Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, loc. 15