Glenn BecKKK Denies He Has Inspired Any Violence: ‘Where Is The Evidence? … Show It To Me’

[marmar]

from thinkprogress:



Beck Denies He Has Inspired Any Violence: ‘Where Is The Evidence? … Show It To Me’

The plot of this week’s Law & Order SVU revolved around a killer who was inspired by a fictional right-wing talk show host to kill children of immigrants. Defending his client’s actions, the killer’s attorney says the man is “just a symptom” of the “cancer spreading ignorance and hate” that is “Garrison (the fictional host), Limbaugh, Beck, O’Reilly.”

Fox News personalities Glenn Beck and O’Reilly were outraged and quickly fired back. O’Reilly called the comments “simply defamatory and outrageous,” and condemned Law & Order creator Dick Wolf as “a coward,” “a liar,” and a “despicable human being” who is trying to push a “progressive point of view.” For his part, Beck asked “where is the evidence for inciting any violence? Show it to me.” Watch it: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/11/beck-oreilly-violence/


Sadly, there is some evidence to support the notion that Beck, Hannity, and O’Reilly have served as the inspiration for individuals disposed to act out with violence. In July 2008, a Tennessee man went on a “shotgun rampage” in a Unitarian church “during a childrens’ production of ‘Annie,’” killing two and injuring six. Police found a letter, explaining his attack was motivated by “a hatred of liberalism and Democratic leaders.” They also found three books in his home:

(Police) seized three books from Adkisson’s home, including “The O’Reilly Factor,” by television commentator Bill O’Reilly; “Liberalism is a Mental Disorder,” by radio personality Michael Savage; and “Let Freedom Ring,” by political pundit Sean Hannity.

Richard Poplawski, who killed three police officers in April in Pittsburgh, may have been partially inspired by Beck. Poplawski “bought into…conspiracy theories hook, line and sinker” and was motivated by a belief that President Obama would “outlaw guns.” Beck and other right-wing pundits pushed the false notion that Obama would ban firearms, leading to a spike in gun sales after his election. Poplawski watched Beck and even posted a clip of Beck and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) discussing FEMA camps — a common subject of right-wing conspiracy theories — to a white supremacist web site.

In May, abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered in the foyer of his church. Prior to this incident, O’Reilly regularly singled out Tiller on his show — there are nearly 1,800 abortion providers in the country — referring to him repeatedly as “Tiller the Baby Killer” and saying that he “executes babies.” Tiller’s name appeared in 29 episodes of “The Factor” between 2005 and Tiller’s death. As Salon’s Gabriel Winant wrote in May, “there’s no other person who bears as much responsibility for the characterization of Tiller as a savage on the loose,” as O’Reilly. Legal and psychological experts event suggested that Scott Roeder — Tiller’s accused killer — might be able to use “the O’Reilly defense” in court. “The deluge of ‘Tiller is a Nazi, mass murderer, baby killer’ verbiage by Mr. O’Reilly surely can drive one into a state of what we in the legal profession call ‘righteous assassination,’” legal expert Jonathan Turley told Huffington Post’s Scott Young.

While Beck and O’Reilly are not directly responsible for any of these incidents, their hate-filled rhetoric has indeed been shown to incite angry or unbalanced listeners.


http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/11/beck-oreilly-violence/

[Turbineguy]

1. Is he inviting us to come over

and kick the shit out of him?

[progressoid]

6. +1

[Zoeisright]

2. There's no point in trying to prove to BecKKK that he's inciting violence.

He'll just deny it and then put Vicks under his eyes so he cries.

[monmouth]

3. I want Rahm to call him on that stupid red phone he has. Just once.....n/t

[emulatorloo]

4. thnks for posting this. Rec n/t

[Echo In Light]

5. Standard RW blowhard charge: "Prove it!"

[bridgit]

7. Glenn Beck *is* the evidence

[Unvanguard]

8. I loathe Glenn Beck, but that's a fair question.

As far as his listeners go, we have no control: they might well have been angry, violent, bigoted extremists long before they listened to his demagoguery.

[gratuitous]

9. And a nationally broadcast voice egging them on is blameless

Angry, violent, bigoted extremists are going to go off sooner or later anyway, so the irresponsible rantings of Glenn Beck must remain on the air or the terrorists have won. Or something.

[Unvanguard]

11. If he's actively egging them on ("Go kill abortion doctors"), that's different.

But my understanding is that the complaint is more about the intensity of his rhetoric than any specific, explicit encouragement of violence.

[zbdent]

17. Did anybody in the media call for Beckenstein to prove his charges

of "the looney left" aiding and abetting terrorists?

[The Straight Story]

10. Hate filled rhetoric? Sounds like some I hear locally talking about christians (nt)

[LeftinOH]

12. In the episode, the killer was found 'not guilty', then bragged to his lawyer after the verdict

that he was free to continue killing. The lawyer then shot and killed his client. Rather contrived, no?

[nemo137]

15. Law & Order? Contrived? Never.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

16. That's a typical L&O ending

I bet his body was carried away just as the entire cast showed up at the scene to see for themselves and fade to black.

[Initech]

13. BecKKK doesn't get the fact that his profession causes a lot of violence.

[tblue37]

14. _Law and Order_ tends to be more RW than not, so I am glad they actually

slammed Beck et al. that way.