Ted Cruz should really just quit talking about his "plan" to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods" in order to stop terrorism since he has absolutely no idea what he's doing. If this isn't an instance of a politician flying totally blind while shamelessly pandering to voters, we're not sure what is. Igor Bobic reports:
Cruz pointed to a controversial program run by New York City’s police department that spied on New York City mosques and Muslim communities under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, calling it a “successful” example of Cruz’s intentions for the country if elected president. [...] According to The Associated Press, however, the department “never generated a lead or triggered a terrorism investigation” in the six years that it eavesdropped on conversations.
Not one single lead or investigation. Just blindly listening to people talk about their kids or sports or whatever people discuss at their favorite eatery. Wonder how much money New York flushed down the toilet on that endeavor? On the other hand, undercover officers were probably treated to some delicious food. Back to Cruz, for more clarification hot air:
“If you have a neighborhood where there is a high level of gang activity, the way you prevent it is you increase the law enforcement presence there and you target the gang members to get them off the street.”
But Cruz demurred when questioned several times by CNN host Anderson Cooper as to whether he could name a specific community where he would send such patrols.
“I am talking about any area where there is a higher incidence of radical Islamic terrorism,” he said.
Dual “radical Islamic terrorism” and “gang activity” shout outs—oh, snap! And jeez, Anderson, how many times does he have to explain this ironclad plan? All this talk from counterterrorism experts about the Internet being a prime recruiting tool—ridiculous. Cruz knows better.