By MOISES MENDOZA
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 27, 2010, 6:54PM
CONTROVERSY ON THE RADIO
A Houston radio talk-show host this week called for the bombing of a mosque if it's built near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.
In comments Wednesday on KPRC-950 AM, Michael Berry said, “I'll tell you this — if you do build a mosque, I hope somebody blows it up.” Berry added: “I hope the mosque isn't built, and if it is, I hope it's blown up, and I mean that.”
The remarks came in an angry exchange with a caller who insulted Berry and said Muslims should be able to build mosques wherever they want. They were discussing a proposal to build an Islamic center just a few blocks from the attack site in Manhattan.
On Thursday, shortly after the Houston Chronicle contacted his producer to ask about the comments, Berry posted a message on the KPRC website describing the caller as “belligerent” and adding, “I did NOT advocate bombing any mosque.”
He did not return a message through his producer seeking comment and later said on his radio show that he would not talk to reporters.
Clear Channel, which owns KPRC and KTRH-740 AM, a sister station where Berry also appears, said it had no comment. The manager of the two stations did not return a phone call.
Berry devoted a large portion of his Thursday show to discussing his comments, alternately appearing apologetic and then defiant. He spent much of his time lambasting the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights organization that first distributed Berry's comments to reporters and said it had filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
“I apologize to you my listeners for insulting your intelligence and saying something so stupid. I do not apologize, however, for my opinion that that mosque should not be built,” Berry said. He said his bosses had been supportive of him.
National reaction from civil rights groups was swift and intense. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the talk-show host should be disciplined.
“We would like to see some action taken by his employer. If we call directly for his firing then we're accused of censorship and stifling his free speech,” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.
Dena Marks, a Houston-based Anti-Defamation League spokeswoman, said: “This type of language really has no place in our society. It doesn't advance anything. In fact it muddies the water.”
Berry, a former Houston council member and a staunch conservative, has built much of his radio career stirring up controversy.
Earlier this year he embraced the cause of a Klein Collins High School student who threw away a Mexican flag hung up for Cinco de Mayo. That caused the school to be inundated with phone calls from angry conservatives.
During his Thursday show, Berry seemed to express some concern that he could be booted off the air, but he said he could live with it.
“If that means I have to go off the air because I have an opinion that offends them, then that's what that means,” he said.
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An election for President and Commander in Chief of the Military must strive to be above reproach. Our public institutions must give the public confidence that a presidential candidate has complied with the election process that is prescribed by our Constitution and laws. It is only after a presidential candidate satisfies the rules of such a process that he/she can expect members of the public, regardless of their party affiliations, to give him/her the respect that the Office of President so much deserves.
For most Americans, Ground Zero is hallowed ground.
ReplyDeleteHaving a mosque anywhere near Ground Zero is an insult to every non muslim in this Country. Think about it. Everyone who was filmed on T.V. cheering the successful attack on the twin towers can now come to America, visit their Ground Zero mosque and celebrate one of the grandest successes of islamic terroism. Religion of peace? Look at what is happening in europe. They are taking over. It won't be many years where they will run the governments of europe by simple majority.
What has this once great nation become?
Are there dirty bombs planted in america that muslims control us now?
We, even as you read this, have a mostly ARAB, entirely MUSLIM, USURPER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Why? Why is it nothing can be done about it? No senators, no congressmen, no judges will remove him? People trying to tell you everything is alright when it is so clearly evident it is very wrong.
A mosque anywhere near Ground Zero is simply NOT an option.
What a sad commentary. I have given deep consideration to a mosque close to ground zero and consider it a slap in the face of terrorism. NY is my original home, I was raised there till i was 20. Many friends and family members are still there. 1 cousin has a breathing prob from that terrible day. But, all of us are educated enough to know that Muslim workers were killed there, and we need to see Muslims stand up to terror which is what the purpose of this mosque is.
ReplyDeletehalf cocked comments without looking at both sides of an issue tend to be the things that get us all in trouble. Crying out for violence is unChristian. If you doubt that, read the sermon on the mount. I don't think it was ever recinded.