A key military adviser to Donald Trump says better profiling of potential homegrown terrorists could prevent some attacks, like the bombings in New York and New Jersey that injured 29 people.
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, in an interview for the Washington Examiner’s “Examining Politics” podcast, said police and law enforcement authorities need more latitude to look for signs that individuals have been radicalized and pose a threat.
“In many cases you find cities where there’s a lot of withholding of this idea,” Flynn said, “because law enforcement professionals are going to be held back from what they know they need to be doing.”
Asked if that was a factor in the case of Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect arrested in connection with the New York and New Jersey bombings, Flynn said, “I think if there’s a detailed lesson learned, you sorta peel the onion back, you do the serious forensics of why and what was going on with this individual I think you are going to find out those kinds of things.”
The New York Times reported Tuesday that two years ago Rahami’s father told the police that his son was a terrorist, prompting the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to open a low-level investigation. The Times quotes law enforcement official as saying the father recanted.
Flynn made clear he is not talking about religious profiling, but looking at other factors that could indicate terrorist intent.
“We just have to be really serious about this,” Flynn said. “Is it absolutely preventable? Absolutely not. A person who brings a knife to a mall and just starts stabbing people, he’s going to do that until somebody actually stops them.”
But he argued that giving law enforcement a freer hand would prevent some attacks.
“What we have to recognize is that we have a problem in this country with radical Islamism inside of the homeland.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Flynn discussed:
• Defeating Islamic State: “We have to have much more offensive cyber operations. We do a lot of defensive cyber operations, we do a lot of blocking and tackling. We need to be much more aggressive.”
• Clinton’s comments on Trump being a “recruiting sergeant” for Islamic State: “They are digging so deep in their bag of hateful vengeance language because they are losing.”
• Powell calling him a “right-wing nutty” “I found it unbelievable. I never met Colin Powell. He’s listening to somebody … And actually, it’s like I said when I first heard about it. I have nine brother and sisters. My little sister has called me worse.”
• Whether he was fired as head of the DIA: “Yeah. I was essentially told I was going to leave a year early … I was challenging the narrative out of the White House.”
• Serving in Trump’s Cabinet: “I’m not even thinking past frankly my trip back up to New York today.”
