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Sergeants' Union Head Backs Cruz's Muslim Profiling Remarks

By Trevor Kapp | March 24, 2016 2:32pm
 Sergeants' union president Ed Mullins said he supports Ted Cruz's comment about increasing surveillance in Muslim communities.
Sergeants' union president Ed Mullins said he supports Ted Cruz's comment about increasing surveillance in Muslim communities.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

MIDTOWN — Ted Cruz’s anti-Muslim comments drew a firestorm of criticism from Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio, but they struck a chord with at least one police union head.

Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins backed Cruz’s controversial remarks that law enforcement should not be handcuffed in its efforts to step up patrol in Muslim communities.

“As a person who received hundreds of calls and letters from around the nation, I can attest that Senator Cruz’s statement is not only correct but truthful,” Mullins said in a statement. “Many Americans across the nation sympathized with the members of law enforcement.”

Cruz said earlier this week that police and FBI agents should increase their surveillance of Muslim communities following the terror attacks in Brussels.

“If you have a neighborhood where there's a high level of gang activity, the way to prevent it is you increase the law enforcement presence there and you target the gang members to get them off the streets," Cruz told CNN. "I'm talking about any area where there is a higher incidence of radical Islamic terrorism."

The NYPD announced in January that it would update its guidelines and adopt a civilian monitor to settle two racial-profiling lawsuits, which claimed the department unlawfully spied on Muslims.

Bratton blasted Cruz for suggesting the NYPD should renege on its promises and pointed out that the department has more than 900 Muslim officers, 83 of whom are sergeants.   

“He doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about,” the commissioner said.