News / Human Rights

Trump calls for racial profiling of American Muslims

Monday, 20 June 2016 1:26 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 21 June 2016 3:33 AM ]

"I think profiling is something that we're going to have to start thinking about as a country," Donald Trump told CBS News on Sunday. (Reuters photo)

Presumptive US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has called for racial profiling of Muslims inside the United States to combat terrorism.

"I think profiling is something we're going to have to start thinking about as a country," Trump said on CBS News on Sunday.

The outspoken billionaire said he doesn't like the concept of racial profiling, but it may be necessary.

"Other countries do it. You look at Israel and you look at others, and they do it and they do it successfully," he said.

"I hate the concept of profiling, but we have to start using common sense and we have to use, you know, we have to use our heads. ... We really have to look at profiling. We have to look at is seriously,” he stated.

Trump said France also places mosques under surveillance.

"They're doing it in France. In fact, in some instances, they're closing down mosques. People don't want to talk about it. People aren't talking about it. But look at what they're doing in France. They're actually closing down mosques," he asserted.

Civil rights activists, Muslims, African-Americans, Latinos and others condemned Trump’s statement, saying that profiling is unconstitutional.

Muslim women watch as US President Barack Obama speaks at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, in Windsor Mill, Maryland on February 3, 2016. (AFP photo)

Muslim children hold US flags as President Barack Obama speaks in an overflow room during a visit to the Islamic Society of Baltimore, in Windsor Mill, Maryland on February 3, 2016. (AFP photo)

The New York business tycoon previously called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the United States.

He has also called for a database to track Muslims across the United States and said that the US would have "absolutely no choice"but to close down mosques.

The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the Orlando nightclub shooting that left dozens of people dead last week, and called for unity among all Americans, warning politicians against exploiting the tragedy to score points.

Omar Mateen, armed with assault weapons, stormed the Pulse Club on June 12, killing 49 people and injured 53 others at the gay club, marking the worst ever mass shooting in US history.

The 29-year-old suspect was an American-born US citizen born to parents of Afghan background. He was allegedly a Daesh sympathizer.

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