The CA cop shooter and Glenn Beck: Here's what we know

[RamboLiberal]

On July 18, Byron Williams, an ex-felon with a history of violent criminal behavior, was pulled over by California Highway Police on I-580. Williams, who was apparently intoxicated, opened fire at the officers as one approached his truck. He continued firing as eight additional officers arrived. More than 60 rounds were reportedly fired during the five to eight minute shootout; two officers were reportedly injured by flying glass after a squad cars window and windshield were shattered by gunfire. Williams was arrested and hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds.

Williams was reportedly heavily armed with a handgun, shotgun, rifle and body armor. Shortly after the shooting, a CHP sergeant said that "There is no doubt in our mind, given the body armor and the extensive amount of ammunition he had, that he was on his way to do a very serious crime against either someone or a group of people" And indeed, Williams reportedly told investigators that "his intention was to start a revolution by traveling to San Francisco and killing people of importance at the Tides Foundation and the ACLU."

The ACLU is a very well-known entity, but the Tides Foundation, which seeks to "promote economic justice, robust democratic processes, and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected," is much more obscure.

-----

According to his mother, Williams "watched the news on television and was upset by 'the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items.'"

We don't know what Williams was watching, or that television played a role in his decision to target Tides. However, if it did, according to our Nexis searches, the primary person on cable or network news talking about the Tides Foundation in the year and a half prior to the shootout was Fox News' Glenn Beck.

According to our searches, since Beck's show premiered on January 19, 2009, Tides has been mentioned on 31 editions of Fox News programs, 29 of which were editions of Beck's show (the other two were on Sean Hannity's program). In most of those references, Beck attacked Tides, often weaving the organization into his conspiracy theories. Two of those Beck mentions occurred during the week before Williams' shootout.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201007230022

[virgogal]

1. So the TV made him do it?

[RamboLiberal]

2. You think all the hate rhetoric spewed by RW on TV, Radio & books

can't have an effect on some of these whack jobs with a few screws already loose?

James Adkisson has been sentenced to life behind bars for the deaths of Greg McKendry and Linda Kraeger, the Unitarian Universalist martyrs who died during his assault on their church in Knoxville, TN last July.

But Monday, Adkisson told us himself -- in his own words -- just how central right-wing eliminationism was in driving him to his shooting spree. Shortly after he was sentenced Monday, he released a four-page handwritten "manifesto" -- which he'd intended to be his suicide note -- to the Knoxville News (the full .pdf can be downloaded here). In it, he unleashes the full measure of his hatred for liberals -- and encourages other would-be right-wing warriors to take up arms and follow him into battle.

Some choice excerpts:

"Know this if nothing else: This was a hate crime. I hate the damn left-wing liberals. There is a vast left-wing conspiracy in this country & these liberals are working together to attack every decent & honorable institution in the nation, trying to turn this country into a communist state. Shame on them....

"This was a symbolic killing. Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate & House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg's book. I'd like to kill everyone in the mainstream media. But I know those people were inaccessible to me. I couldn't get to the generals & high ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chickenshit liberals that vote in these traitorous people. Someone had to get the ball rolling. I volunteered. I hope others do the same. It's the only way we can rid America of this cancerous pestilence."

"I thought I'd do something good for this Country Kill Democrats til the cops kill me....Liberals are a pest like termites. Millions of them Each little bite contributes to the downfall of this great nation. The only way we can rid ourselves of this evil is to kill them in the streets. Kill them where they gather. I'd like to encourage other like minded people to do what I've done. If life aint worth living anymore don't just kill yourself. do something for your Country before you go. Go Kill Liberals.

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/knoxville-church-shooters-manifesto

[jillan]

6. Maybe you should listen to Beck's show just once so you might understand how this is all connected.

Or Limbaugh if you prefer.

[virgogal]

7. I heard Limbaugh once on my car radio (about 15 years ago) and that was it.

Never heard Beck.

[jillan]

10. Virgo the virgin - :) They tell their listeners one lie after another that

make it sound like Obama is out to destroy the country & that he wants to take away their guns.
They play on the emotions and fears of their listeners which believe everything they are told.

[virgogal]

12. Thanks----and now I'm glad I don't bother with them. I do read a lot,

though,so I'm pretty aware of what is going on.

Oh,by the way,what's a virgin?:hi:

[awoke_in_2003]

14. it is painful...

but you should tune in to RW radio every once and a while- it is good to know what the enemy thinks.

[jillan]

17. Lol - you are much better off reading then listening to those jerks.

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Language has consequences

there is a reason why at one time we had a fairness act, that forbid this kind of blatant propaganda.

[girl gone mad]

11. Remember Rwanda?

The media absolutely can influence people to commit hate crimes.

[virgogal]

13. Thanks for reminding me of Rwanda----you are correct.

[conscious evolution]

15. Very probable

Media has such a potent effect that misusing it to promote hatred is considered a crime against humanity.Media personalities from Nazi Germany,Japan and Rwanda have been indicted tried and convicted for poisoning peoples minds with hatred.julius Striecher was executed for his role in WW2.J Goebbels would most likely have been also executed if he had not commited suicide.

[Kievan Rus]

3. Sounds like what happened with Richard Poplawski, the Pittsburgh cop-killer

Like the guy in California, he was also an avid Beck viewer. Poplawski believed in an imminent "Obama gun ban"; and believed that's why the officers were coming to house on the morning of the tragedy.

[Warpy]

4. O'Reilly targeted Dr. Tiller

and Beck has targeted Tides.

These goons are going to have to get a high level politician killed before the FCC grows a pair and starts pulling broadcast licenses because stations that carry them are not serving the public interest.

Targeting your fellow citizens for murder is not serving the public interest.

[jillan]

5. There really is no way to stop faux and their hatred?

People are getting killed, lives are being ruined - yet they are allowed to continue business as usual.

[Hissyspit]

8. The next day Beck was on his show trying to blatantly defend and deflect

ergo, you know he knew he had responsibility for this. That's what he and O'Reilly do. Regularly.

[gratuitous]

16. Yeah, the lie detector test . . .

As soon as they go into the "Whoa folks, just an entertainer" mode, you can tell they know they've stepped on their johnson. It's disgusting, but we don't have any effective way to reel in this nonsense.

[mzmolly]

18. How many right wing shooters do we have now?

This is not an isolated incident. Beck and others need to be held accountable.