United Press International: Rep. urged to clarify race profile remark

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has urged a Congressman to clarify controversial remarks he made about racial profiling. CAIR's Chicago office said Thursday it had sent a letter, along with several other organizations, demanding a clarification from Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill., about recent comments he had made about racial profiling.

In a recent debate against John Pavich, his Democratic challenger in Tuesday's congressional elections, Weller said: "If we know a Middle Eastern male has entered our community, I believe our law enforcement needs to be able to go out and look for Middle Eastern males, if that Middle Eastern male was part of a jihadist movement and part of a terrorist threat to our nation."

Sadiya Ahmed, CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Coordinator, said that the practice of racial profiling "creates a cycle of discrimination that is difficult to break out of."

"Elected officials have the ability to protect the civil rights of their constituents," Ahmed said. "Singling out a group of people, Middle Eastern men, and encouraging law enforcement to seek them out only encourages a dangerous climate of hate. Our representatives should be the ones protecting people against such mistreatment in the first place."

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