Retired Navy SEAL Carl Higbie says the Constitution's promise of freedom of religion should not give terrorist-leaning individuals the right to support the Islamic State (ISIS) and other jihadist groups.
In the wake of the Taliban's deadly attack on a Pakistan school and the café bloodbath by a self-styled Islamic State supporter in Australia, Higbie said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV:
"What needs to happen here is we need to scrutinize this and eventually take some sort of legal action and make it illegal to pledge allegiance to ISIS, make it a terrorist act and make it punishable under law," he said.
"Right now, there's so much political correctness in the freedom of religion under the First Amendment allows people to go to extreme circumstances … We need to find some way to criminalize this behavior."
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on DIRECTV Ch. 349 and DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system – Click Here Now
He said that profiling, despite the controversy it has sparked, is helpful in weeding out terror suspects.
"Stereotypes are derived from the majority of a public or a very prominent part of that culture acting a certain way. It's just like with pants sagged, gold chains and loud rap music is categorized with crime and it's the same thing with radical Islam," Higbie said.
"If you're preaching ISIS-based rhetoric and if you are supporting radical Islam, guess what, you're probably a terrorist and profiling in that such works."
Higbie, author of
"Battle on the Homefront: A Navy SEAL's mission to save the American dream," published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform — said the motivation behind the Pakistan terror is unclear.
"Keep in mind, Pakistan is a nuclear power. What they attacked was the sons and daughters of very high-ranking Pakistani military officials," Higbie said.
"Could this be a ploy to soften up the military and potentially look for getting a nuclear weapon? I don't know. It's a longshot, but maybe.
"If you think about that kind of regional instability with that kind of firepower behind their government that is so fragile, where does America stand? Where should we be going? Should we be offering the same $12 billion to Pakistan or should we be marching in there and helping them secure their country?"
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.