NEW YORK — Saturday’s terrorist bombing in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood has ignited the discourse surrounding Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s suggestion to temporarily ban immigrants coming into America from Muslim countries.
Local resident Bernard is a registered Democrat who resides in Chelsea on the street where the bombing took place. He is an African-American and works as an assistant cook at a local cafeteria. He was near the bombing the night it happened.
He told Breitbart News on Monday that, in light of the prevalence of terrorist attacks carried out by individuals of the Islamic faith, he is supportive of Trump’s temporary ban.
“Each and every day, it’s getting more and more serious about these terrorist bombings,” Bernard said. “And I don’t want it to go that way, but to protect our citizens, it might have to be that way, temporarily.”
Describing his experience that night, Bernard said, “It was a quarter-after-eight on Saturday evening. I had just left my girlfriend’s house and I was on Ninth Avenue and 27th Street and I heard a big bang! And after that, I said, ‘that don’t sound like no firecracker. It sounds like a terrorist.’ And I was right.”
Asked by Breitbart News if he was surprised to find out that the bombing suspect was from a Middle Eastern country, he said, “Oh no. I knew it off the bat. People don’t want to hear the truth.” Bernard said “I’m not prejudice or nothing but I don’t agree with — I’m a Democrat — I don’t agree with everything Donald Trump says. But only one thing I agree with him: If you’re not a citizen or if you’re a citizen from another country, screen them or send them back to their country, period.”
He added, “but it’s the legal ones doing the most damage.” The Afghani-born Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was a naturalized U.S. citizen.
In spite of his agreement with Trump on national security, Bernard said, because he is a Democrat, he is still voting for Hillary Clinton. He added, “Let me tell you. Only one thing I disagree with her and Obama [on is] they too soft on foreign policy. They need to be more harder.”
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz.
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