Donald Trump says Muslims in Jersey City cheered on 9/11

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been accused of attempting to incite a hate campaign, after he claimed he saw people across the river in New Jersey cheering the September 11 attacks — a claim officials strongly deny.

Trump first told the story at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama, as he pressed the need for greater surveillance, including monitoring of mosques, in the wake of the Paris attacks.

“I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering,” Trump said at the rally.

Trump repeated the assertion in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week, as Stephanopoulos explained that police had refuted any such rumours at the time.

“It did happen. I saw it,” said Trump. “It was on television. I saw it. There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey, where you have large Arab populations. They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down,” he said.

“I know it might be not politically correct for you to talk about it,” he added, “but there were people cheering as that building came down, as those buildings came down. And that tells you something.”

Jersey City mayor, Steven Fulop, criticised Trump. “Trump is plain wrong, and he is shamefully politicising an emotionally charged issue,” said Fulop. “No one in Jersey City cheered on September 11. We were actually among the first to provide responders to help in lower Manhattan.”

Footage of Muslims in Middle Eastern countries cheering news of the attacks was broadcast on television, but there is no evidence in news archives of celebrations by Muslims in Jersey City, which is across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan, with views of the World Trade Center site.