News and Views

CAIR: Texas Radio Host, Michael Berry, Urges Bombing of NY Mosque

Published

May 28, 2010

Amir

Audio:
http://www.cair.com/audio/michaelberry.wav

ACTION-ALERT for any American who believes that no terrorist threat should be taken lightly:

Complain to the FCC, and also complain to the radio station. You can do this online. You’ll need to know:
- What is the name of the company that is the subject of your complaint? Clear Channel Communications
- Station call sign: 740 KTRH
- Station location: Houston, TX
- Operator Name: Clear Channel
- Operator Location: San Antonio, TX
- Program name: The Michael Berry Show
- Date: 5/26/2010
- Time (anyone know? but not necessary)
- Provide the details of your complaint: Simply copy and paste what Berry said. Mention the violence-incitement nature of the comment.
Contact 740 KTRH to express your anger and demand that Berry be suspended or fired.

Muslim civil rights group files FCC complaint over incitement to violence
WASHINGTON, May 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today filed a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) complaint against a radio talk show host in Texas who yesterday advocated bombing a proposed New York City mosque. The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Houston radio host Michael Berry (KTRH-AM 740) made that call to violence on his May 26 program. In his response to a caller named “Tony” who supported the right to build the planned mosque in New York — an effort that has come under rhetorical attack by anti-Islam extremists — Berry said: “No, no, Tony, you can’t build a mosque at the site of 9/11. No, you can’t. No, you can’t. And I’ll tell you this — if you do build a mosque, I hope somebody blows it up. . .I hope the mosque isn’t built, and if it is, I hope it’s blown up, and I mean that.”
Hear Michael Berry’s Call to Violence: http://www.cair.com/audio/michaelberry.wav
[Berry has in the past been a guest host for nationally-syndicated broadcasters like Mark Levin, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly.]
“Calls for acts of violence against houses of worship must never be tolerated or excused,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “We ask the FCC to demonstrate that incitement to violence is never acceptable on our nation’s airwaves.”
He said Berry’s call to violence against an American mosque is of particular concern, coming as it does after a bombing at a mosque in Jacksonville, Fla., earlier this month.
SEE: Lt. Gov. Tours Mosque that was Bombed
http://www.news4jax.com/news/23684961/detail.html
Awad noted that the planned New York mosque is being opposed by a collection of anti-Islam hate-mongers, one of whom recently launched an Islamophobic bus advertisement campaign in that city.
SEE: NYC Woman’s Ad Crusade – Say No to Islam (Video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Y3ybmLWjY
CAIR recently expressed concern about a “growing atmosphere of anti-Muslim sentiment” nationwide.
SEE: Tea Party Leader Says Muslims Worship ‘Monkey-God’ http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20100519/pl_usnw/DC07826_1
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/CAIR/42590232694. Subscribe to CAIR’s E-Mail List http://tinyurl.com/cairsubscribe.
CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations

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Amir

Muslim American born in Brooklyn, NY with Guyanese parents currently living in Virginia working full-time as a web developer.

5 Comments

Pingback: TIME FOR ACTION: Sunday Open Thread 5/30/09 [Michael Berry 740KTRH & Muslim Advocates/Call White House June 4] | MuslimMatters.org
Joyce Loftis

June 1, 2010 at 7:19 AM

If the radio station fires Michael Berry, it will be giving enormous power to a group of people CAIRE, whose primary purpose is to alter the culture of our great nation. Michael Berry is not only a patriot, he speaks for so many of us who are deeply concerned with the unnatural tendency to be afraid to say how you feel because it will be regarded as “politically incorrect.” I for one, totally enjoy Michael’s candor. He may have crossed over the line with his statement, but who among us has NEVER done that. Does he deserve to be crucified? If so, our country is in even deeper, darker trouble than any of us can know!

Reply
- Amad
  
  June 1, 2010 at 8:16 AM
  
  Joyce, this has NOTHING to do with CAIR (not CAIRE). Berry is making this about CAIR because it is easier to attack a group than tackling the issue.
  
  Would you find it brave if I similarly hoped for the destruction of a synagogue in Israel because of Israel’s recent actions? There is a difference between political correctness and incitement to violence. It would have been okay for Berry to express his anger (even if unjustified) at the mosque’s construction. But it is not okay for anyone, you, me or M Berry to hope for a bombing to occur. Think about this in a fair manner, putting yourself in the other party’s shoes and hopefully you will come to the same conclusion.
  
  Finally, if you really care about Berry’s program, then you should help Berry by telling him so when he is wrong. This will only make him a more mainstream host.
  
  Reply
- Siraaj
  
  June 1, 2010 at 1:40 PM
  
  Does he deserve to be crucified?
  
  Yes (metaphorically speaking). Just like what happened to Michael Savage and Don Imus.
  
  Siraaj
  
  Reply
- abu abdAllah Tariq Ahmed
  
  June 1, 2010 at 3:58 PM
  
  Public sanctions for hate speech exist because society wants to deter that speech from occurring. Most people on radio do not have to censure themselves because they do not engage in hate speech, thank God. But those who do self-censure have to do so precisely because what they would otherwise say would incite hatred and violent acts.
  
  Watch any movie or documentary about the genocides of Rwanda. Hundreds of thousands of people were actively targeted by a hateful radio station. When America was torn apart by racial hatred, when little girls were being buried because of bombs in churches in Birmingham, would you have wanted America then to let anyone say on the radio that bombing black churches was a good thing? Would you have wanted anyone then to get away with it? Of course not.
  
  And it has nothing to do with that specific mosque for me, either. I have read about it in the New York Times, and I personally do not think I would go there for prayer. But I would defend them from violent speech as avidly as I would defend any church or synagogue because I believe to my core that is what Allah demands of me, and I am glad that US law agrees.
  
  The same rules that you protest now are designed to prevent anything as hateful as a church-bombing from happening again, yet black churches are still burned in the south, and Jewish and Muslim places of worship are still subjected to vandalism and even arson, too. And now a radio personality in a major city has said that a mosque should be bombed. How much worse it would be if there were no censorship of hate-speech in media.
  
  Joyce, there are over 100 mosques in Houston, where this hate speech was broadcast. Imagine some nutcase who heard him decided to bomb a mosque in Houston because he cannot reach the one in NY? Or in any of the cities where Tea-Party activists are defending that man’s statements right now? That is a very real possibility, Joyce. May Allah protect us from such evil acts.
  
  So whatever you think of that radio host, and I do not think I have ever heard him at all, as Americans committed to civil society, you should join us in demanding that he be censured for what he said. Because we do not want another Birmingham in America, none of us do.
  
  Reply