Ted Cruz Calls For Patrolling Muslim Neighborhoods Before They’re ‘Radicalized’

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz released a statement after the deadly terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday, and it has some concerned.

In the statement, Ted Cruz calls for having law enforcement patrol Muslim neighborhoods to make sure community members are not being radicalized by terrorist groups like ISIS.

“We will do what we can to help them fight this scourge, and redouble our efforts to make sure it does not happen here. We need to immediately halt the flow of refugees from countries with a significant al Qaida or ISIS presence. We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”

Ted Cruz’s statement also said these terrorist groups believe western countries are part of an “intolerable culture that they have vowed to destroy.” Cruz said the existence of radical Muslim culture has been denied by the United States because of “political correctness and fear.”

Many felt what Ted Cruz was implying could have dire consequences for the freedoms enjoyed by American citizens.

“Profiling people based on their religion or race is blatantly unconstitutional and violates the guarantee of religious protection and religious freedom,” Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s national security project, told the Nation.

This is not the first time Ted Cruz has said something about the fight against terrorism that has caused concern. Ted Cruz said in December that he would like to carpet bomb ISIS so much that we’d see if “sand can glow in the dark.”

Many said Cruz’s plan was irresponsible, and not a legitimate military strategy.

“Indiscriminate bombing where we don’t care if we are killing innocents or combatants is just inconsistent with our values,” the top U.S. commander for the battle against ISIS, Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, told CNN in February. “We are bound by the laws of armed conflict. And you know at the end of the day, it doesn’t only matter if you win, it matters how you win.”

Ted Cruz wasn’t the only candidate to make controversial statements on Tuesday. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump decided to say something predictably bombastic. He went on Fox News and called Brussels a “disaster city,” blaming the country’s immigration policies.

“And look at Brussels. Brussels was a beautiful city. A beautiful place with zero crime. And now it’s a disaster city. It’s a total disaster. And we have to be very — we have to be very careful in the United States. We have to be very, very vigilant as to who we allow into this country.”

Furthermore, Trump used the tragedy in Brussels as a chance to promote himself as the terror expert voters need.

I have proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody- and it’s not even close. Hopefully AZ and UT will be voting for me today!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2016

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are facing off in Arizona and Utah primaries Tuesday, and the latest polls show Trump leading in Arizona and Cruz leading in Utah. Cruz is currently trailing behind Trump in delegates, with 425 to Trump’s 681.

[Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images]