World Bulletin / News Desk

Muslims in America became a “security concern” after the 9/11 terror attacks, according to a professor at a prestigious U.S. university.

“The primary existence of the Muslims in the United States and the Muslim community in the United States is as a security concern,” Jonathan Brown, an associate professor at Washington’s Georgetown University, told a conference in Istanbul on Tuesday evening.

“You are not a citizen, you are not a person, you are not a religious being, you are not a man or a woman or a son or a daughter,” he said. “You are... a security problem waiting to happen.”

Brown’s comments were delivered at a conference titled Islamic Movements in the U.S.: from 9/11 to the Trump Era.

The Sept. 9, 2001 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania killed nearly 3,000 people after al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners.

Brown said the attacks had led to the targeting of Muslims and Islamic organizations by the government.

“One of the first thing the United States government started to do was to basically start shutting down Muslim organizations and Muslim charities,” Brown, director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, said.

The administration of President George W. Bush particularly targeted the finances of groups and charities, he added.