Trump mulls increased racial profiling
June 20, 2016
Presumptive US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States should consider more racial profiling, in the wake of last week's massacre at an Orlando nightclub.
"I think profiling is something that we're going to have to start thinking about as a country," Trump told the CBS political talk show "Face the Nation."
"You look at Israel and you look at others, and they do it and they do it successfully. And you know, I hate the concept of profiling, but we have to start using common sense," he said.
Trump sparked criticism for his comments on American Muslims after the Orlando shooting, in which a US-born Muslim man killed 49 people at a gay nightclub. He stood by his call to suspend immigration from countries with "a proven history of terrorism."
Trump had also previously called for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to America after a Muslim-American and his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California in December.
US Muslims, Trump said, should "cooperate with law enforcement and turn in the people who they know are bad."
The Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, was born in the US to Afghan immigrant parents.
He had expressed support for the so-called "Islamic State" during the three-hour siege at the Pulse nightclub, but officials believe he was self-radicalized.
Trump said in the interview that there were "red flags" around Mateen, who had been investigated by the FBI but not arrested. He also called for increased scrutiny of mosques.
"If you go to France right now, they're doing it in France. In fact, in some instances they're closing down mosques," he said.
Some mosques in France were closed in the wake of the November attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
Trump roundly criticized
Trump's proposals have been criticized by Democrats as well as Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. Civil libertarians, Muslims and others also have strongly disagreed, arguing profiling is unconstitutional and constitutes unlawful discrimination based on race, religion and other factors.
Meanwhile, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in an interview that law enforcement should remain allied with groups that might have helpful information,
"It is very important for to us maintain our contacts within the Muslim community, because, often, individuals, if they're from that community and they're being radicalized, their friends and family members will see it first. They will see activity first. And we want that information to come to us," Lynch told CNN's "State of Union."
bw/cmk (Reuters, AP, AFP)