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Donald Trump has called for shutting down Muslim immigration into the U.S.
The Republican presidential candidate called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the country until the U.S. can “figure out what is going on.” Trump’s proposed ban would apply to “everybody,” including Muslim tourists.
Following the attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino, California, Trump has also called for the surveillance and closure of mosques, expressed support when asked about the possibility of a Muslim registry, and repeatedly and falsely claimed that “thousands” of New Jersey Muslims celebrated the fall of the World Trade Center in 2001, BuzzFeed News reports.
Trump cited an unreliable June 2015 poll from the Center for Security Policy (a conservative think tank that has long alleged that American Muslims are a threat to U.S. security), claiming that a quarter of Muslim Americans support violence against the U.S., and that more than half believe Muslims should be governed according to Islamic law.
While Trump called his plan a “very important policy statement,” his fellow Republican candidates criticized him, calling it — among other things — “downright dangerous” and “fascist,” The Hill writes.
The British government is facing calls to consider banning Trump from entering Britain for stirring up anti-Muslim prejudice.
And a little extra.
Other Republican presidential candidates also spoke about immigration and refugees following last week’s attack in San Bernardino, The Guardian writes:
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul introduced an amendment to put a moratorium on visas for people from “high risk” countries. The amendment failed.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio on vetting refugees: “You won’t find a lot of the people who are coming here to do terrorism.”
Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson said that last week’s shooting in San Bernardino “should end this whole argument about Syrian refugees.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said he wants to see the immigration history of the San Bernardino attackers.
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Donald Trump is unhinged. His "policy" proposals are not serious.
WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON
Prosecutors won’t charge a Chicago police officer for fatally shooting a 25-year-old black man.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said Officer George Hernandez’s actions were “reasonable and permissible” when he fatally shot 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III in October 2014, because the dashcam video showed “Johnson running toward another police vehicle with a gun in his hand,” BuzzFeed News writes.
The decision comes after the U.S. Justice Department announced a broad civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department’s use of force.
Johnson was killed just weeks before another black man, Laquan McDonald, was fatally shot 16 times. Jason Van Dyke, the officer who shot McDonald, was charged with murder. The dashcam video of that shooting, which shows the officer firing his gun 16 times, sparked demonstrations in Chicago as well as the ousting of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.
What’s next?
Activists want Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign. They say that real accountability for the death of Laquan McDonald and police misconduct would start with the removal of Emanuel and an overhaul of the city’s police department as well as the creation of an elected police accountability board, BuzzFeed News’ Darren Sands writes.
“Many fear the federal investigation is simply window dressing meant to keep protesters calm,” Sands writes.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?
BuzzFeed News had kebabs with the guys whom Russia says prove Turkey loves ISIS.
Turkey, once praised as a model of Muslim prosperity and democracy, “now finds itself increasingly under the spotlight for its fraying human rights record, its alleged ties to jihadi groups in Syria, and its encroachments in the affairs of other countries,” BuzzFeed News’ Borzou Daragahi writes from Istanbul.
To counter charges that it supports ISIS, Turkey hosted a lunch for journalists at a kebab joint owned by two Turkish men Russia claims are ISIS leaders. The restaurant, Cigeristan, is owned by two Muslim brothers, Ali and Ismail Kember.
A couple of years ago Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son, Bilal, ate at the busy eatery, and the proud owners posed for pictures with him. Those photos have since resurfaced as part of Russia’s “evidence” that Turkey has been colluding with ISIS leaders as part of escalating rhetoric between the countries after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane, Daragahi reports.
Nobody’s quite sure who’s managing Guantanamo’s secrets.
In October, there was a relatively mundane pre-trial hearing in the military commissions process for the alleged 9/11 conspirators. When the transcripts came back a few weeks later, dozens of pages were blacked out entirely, and dozens more had partial redactions. The government, for whatever reason, had decided after the fact that the information shouldn’t have made it onto the airwaves, and certainly shouldn’t make it into the publicly posted transcript, BuzzFeed News’ Ali Watkins writes from Guantanamo Bay.
Now, more than a month later — as well as two years after a separate incident saw a mysterious third-party government agency censoring the public pre-trial hearings of the alleged 9/11 conspirators –– it’s still unclear how the government gets to decide what parts of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base’s military commissions are shielded from public view.
Quick things to know:
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who is facing murder charges for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, has been granted bail and will appeal his murder conviction in the Constitutional Court. (BuzzFeed News)
On trial, William Porter — the first of six police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a young black man in Baltimore who died in police custody — claimed he sought help for Gray. (BuzzFeed News)
The San Bernardino attackers were long radicalized and had practiced at a shooting range days before the attack. (New York Times)
Venezuelans are ready to finally see what comes next after socialist icon Hugo Chávez. (BuzzFeed News)
Eagles of Death Metal performed in Paris for the first time since terrorists stormed their show at the Bataclan on Nov. 13, killing 89 people inside. (BuzzFeed News)
Storm Desmond has caused flooding and havoc across northern Britain. These staggering photos show the destruction. (BuzzFeed News)
Indigenous peoples at the Paris climate summit say they’re on the front lines of climate change, and yet their rights and concerns are being ignored. (BuzzFeed News) BuzzFeed News’ Jim Dalrymple II is covering the climate talks from Paris. You can follow him here.
The U.S. has sent a spy plane to Singapore for the first time. It’s part of a series of U.S. military actions that are seen as a response to China’s growing territorial claims in the South China Sea. (BBC News)
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West named their baby boy Saint West. (BuzzFeed)
Happy Tuesday
Meet Dobrynya, the completely adorable German shepherd that Russia gave to France after the Paris attacks. The 7-month-old puppy is meant to honor Diesel, the police dog killed during an operation in search of the suspects behind the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks, BuzzFeed News’ Lisa Tozzi writes. Last month, Russia said it was giving France a puppy “in solidarity with the French people and the police in the fight against terrorism.” From Russia with woof.
This letter was edited and brought to you by Claire Moses and Brianne O’Brien. You can always reach us here.
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