New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that while individuals trying to enter the U.S. should be “thoroughly vetted,” one religion or race should not be targeted.
“The last thing we should do is cast dispersions on whole races of people, or whole religions, or whole nations. That only makes the situation worse. The bottom line is anyone who wants to come to this country should be very thoroughly vetted as an individual,” Mr. De Blasio, New York Democrat, said on CNN.
“But the minute you start generalizing it, especially through a whole religion, then unfortunately, we’re sending the exact negative message that our enemies want sent. The terrorists want to affirm that this nation is somehow anti-Muslim,” he said.
Mr. De Blasio was reacting to the attack in New York City on Tuesday that occurred near in Lower Manhattan. A man drove a rental truck down a bike path, got out of the vehicle, and displayed a paintball gun and a pellet gun before being shot by police. Eight people have died while another 11 recover from injuries.
Mr. De Blasio said commitment to inclusivity and freedoms “help us fight terror” and that comments like President Trump made are not helpful.
“The last thing the president, or anyone else, should do is politicize this tragedy. We have to find out what happened here,” he said, adding the best thing Mr. Trump and other lawmakers can do is be supportive of the FBI and other law enforcement officials as they further investigate what happened.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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