Trump says US should consider profiling against crime

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Presumptive Republican candidate in the US presidential election, Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on 18 JuneImage source, Reuters
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Mr Trump's remarks have angered the Muslim community

The presumptive Republican candidate in the US presidential election, Donald Trump, has suggested the country should consider using profiling to combat crime.

Mr Trump made the remarks when asked if he supported more profiling of Muslims in the US, in the context of last week's shooting at an Orlando gay club.

Profiling uses ethnicity, race and religion to determine whether a person has or is likely to commit crimes.

Critics say it could alienate Muslims.

In an interview with CBS, Mr Trump said other countries had "successfully" adopted the measure.

"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."

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Many travellers through Israel's Ben Gurion airport report that people who look Arabic and have non-Jewish names have to wait longer and have their baggage more thoroughly checked than Israeli Jews or people who look Jewish or white.

In 2015, the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem annulled a petition, external against discriminatory airport profiling. The court's decision effectively stalled any legal change on the matter.

Discriminatory racial profiling is outlawed in the European Union, but activists say it is on the rise in the wake of terror attacks in Paris and Belgium.

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Mr Trump has stepped up his rhetoric since a gunman, New York-born Omar Mateen, killed 49 people at a night club in Orlando, in the worst mass shooting in recent US history.

The attacker claimed allegiance to so-called Islamic State as he carried out the massacre, but US officials believe he was "self-radicalized".

In the wake of the attack, Mr Trump called for a ban to people from all countries with a history of terrorism against the US.

He had previously expressed support for a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the country.

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A man places American flags at a memorial down the road from the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 19Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Tributes are still being paid to the victims of the shooting in Orlando

In the interview, the Republican also repeated a call for the Muslim community to report suspicious activities and reiterated his support for more scrutiny of mosques.

He said this could resemble a controversial surveillance programme in New York City that was shut down following lawsuits and complaints.

His proposals have been heavily criticised by some fellow Republicans and also by political opponents and campaigners.

In a separate interview, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said such measures could backfire by severing contacts with the Muslim community.

"It's very important for us to maintain our contacts within the Muslim community," she said in an interview on CNN.

"Because, often, individuals, if they're from that community and they're being radicalised, their friends and family members will see it first. They will see activity first. And we want that information to come to us."