Trump Calls For End To 'Muslims Entering The US' In Wake Of San Bernardino Terror Attack
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com/AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called Monday for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."
The proposed ban would stand "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on," his campaign said in a statement.
The statement added that Trump's proposal comes in response to the level of hatred among "large segments of the Muslim population" toward Americans.
"Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life," Trump said in the statement.
"Just when you think Donald Trump cannot outdo his bigotry, he gets to surprise us again," said Hassam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles. "Certainly this time he has officially embraced fascism and Nazism.
At the Islamic Center of Northridge, Mohammad Ibrahim Qureshi said: "It's unbefitting and unbecoming of a presidential candidate to spew out such rhetoric. ... His statements and his comments and not in line with the values of the United States."
Trump added on Twitter: "Just put out a very important policy statement on the extraordinary influx of hatred & danger coming into our country. We must be vigilant!"
Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Trump's proposed ban would apply to "everybody," including Muslims seeking immigration visas as well as tourists seeking to enter the country.
He did not respond to questions about whether it would also include Muslims who are U.S. citizens and travel outside of the country, or how a determination of someone's religion might be made by customs and border officials.
In response to a request for additional detail, Trump said via a campaign spokeswoman: "Because I am so politically correct, I would never be the one to say. You figure it out!"
Trump's proposal comes a day after President Barack Obama spoke to the nation from the Oval Office in the wake of the shootings in San Bernardino, which Obama said was "an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people."
The FBI said Monday the Muslim couple who carried out the massacre had been radicalized and had taken target practice at area gun ranges, in one case within days of the attack last week that killed 14 people.
He says the bureau believes both were radicalized and had been "for quite some time", but added it wasn't yet known when or how they were radicalized.
"We have learned and believe that both subjects were radicalized and had been for quite some time," said Bowdich. "How did that happen and by whom and where did that happen? And I will tell you right now, we don't know those answers at this point."
Earlier this year, Trump stirred up a similar controversy when he referred to Mexican illegal immigrants as "rapists" and "killers".
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