Silent Muslim protester removed compounding controversy.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: JANUARY 9, 2016 15:45Donald Trump.(photo credit: REUTERS)
After making controversial comments about Muslims last month, US presidential candidate Donald Trump is once again in the spotlight for another remark he made during a speech in Rock Hill, South Carolina on Friday. Trump said refugees from Syria "could be ISIS...and by the way, it is turning out that they probably are ISIS," NBC News quoted him as saying."There's so many men, they're so young, they are very strong. Where are the women? Where are the children," Trump asked. During the speech a number of protesters who heckled Trump were removed from the hall by police. Some protesters wore yellow stars with the word "Muslim" written on them, evoking the Nazis treatment of the Jews, according to NBC. One woman, Rose Hamid, a 56-year-old flight attendant sitting in the stands directly behind Trump, stood up during his speech in silent protest and was subsequently removed. Trump supporters around Hamid began chanting Trump's name, as instructed by Trump campaign staff in case of protests, and pointed at Hamid and Marty Rosenbluth, the man alongside her who was also standing in silence, CNN reported. CNN reported that as Hamid and Rosenbluth were escorted out, Trump supporters roared, booing the pair and shouting at them to "get out." One person shouted, "You have a bomb, you have a bomb," Hamid said."The ugliness really came out fast and that's really scary," Hamid told CNN after the incident. An advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, condemned Hamid's removal from the rally. "The image of a Muslim woman being abused and ejected from a political rally sends a chilling message to American Muslims," NBC quoted CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad as saying.
Last month Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on" in light of "great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population."