Donald Trump has suggested the US should "seriously" consider profiling Muslims inside the country to fight terror. The presumptive Republican nominee has previously called for a ban on Muslim immigration to the US.
Trump said on Sunday the United States should consider more racial profiling, in the wake of last week's massacre at an Orlando nightclub, AFP reported.
"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 commonsense," 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 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 self-styled Islamic State terrorist group 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'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.
