Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary sparks Islamophobia row by saying Muslim men should face extra security checks at airports to prevent terrorist attacks

Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 04:26 EST, 22 February 2020 | Sophie Law, Harry Howard

[Olog-hai]

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has sparked a race row after calling for Muslim passengers to be checked at airports in a bid to prevent terror attacks, as he claimed “that is where the threat is coming from”.

Mr. O’Leary said terrorists “will generally be males of a Muslim persuasion” — and that families with young children should be let through security as they are less likely to “blow” people up.

The 58-year-old added that the only way to “deal with the threat” was to vet “single male” Muslims traveling on their own.

The Muslim Council of Britain said the comments amounted to discrimination against Muslim passengers as they branded the comments “racist”. And hate-crime monitoring group Tell Mama suggested his “flippant” words could end up having serious consequences for the budget airline.

Mr. O’Leary had told The Times: “Who are the bombers? They are going to be single males traveling on their own. If you are traveling with a family of kids, on you go; the chances you are going to blow them all up is zero.”

He added: “You can’t say stuff because it’s racism, but it will generally be males of a Muslim persuasion. Thirty years ago, it was the Irish. If that is where the threat is coming from, deal with the threat.” …

[nicollo]

He has effectively defended his airline from terror attacks by broadcasting this message: not my airline, go to theirs. Nice move.

There’s probably more to this than we can know.

[trebb]

He’s a truth-teller - burn him at the stake! Off with his head! Rape his wife and then stone her to death for infidelity!