In what is probably one of the most honest moments in courtroom history, one defense attorney laid the blame for his client’s violent, anti-Muslim sentiment at the feet of Fox News.
This racist defendant was in court after having made violent threats against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Ironically, CAIR’s mission is to “enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.”
These violent threats, according to the NBC affiliate in San Diego, stated:
“We’re waiting for you. And you know what’s going to happen? One day you’re going to wake up and there’s going to be a big, big incident,” the voice on the recording states. The phone message was played in open court Tuesday.
“You’re going to be in the news. It’s going to be like Charlie Hebdo. Guess what? It’s coming your way motherf–ers.”
According to the man’s attorney, his client’s reference to Charlie Hebdo in his threat was caused by a combination of alcohol, anxiety, depression, and a continuous viewing of anti-Muslim and anti-CAIR sentiment from Fox News following the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
While it is extremely sad that this man was suffering from untreated mental health issues, what makes the situation worse is that Fox News gave him the false information to base his hateful notions upon.
According to Media Matters (and those of us with any common sense), this behavior of Fox News is nothing new.
“Fox has a long history of demonizing CAIR and Muslims. In November, Fox host Sean Hannity used a Pew Research poll . . . to claim that a ‘significant’ number of Muslims support ISIS, . . . misleadingly [claiming that it]. . . showed hundreds of millions of ISIS sympathizers. After the Charlie Hebdo massacre, Fox News ignored Muslim condemnation of the attacks. . . On numerous occasions, Fox News has likened CAIR to terrorist organizations. “
With such visceral hatred and lies being spewed by Fox at this clearly troubled man, his distortion of reality took a violent turn. I praise the attorney who at least was able to place in the court record that Fox News was partially to blame for this man’s (and likely thousands of others) violent hatred towards Muslims.
Featured image via YouTube.