Beck implores his audience to "reject violence every step of the way".
Glenn Beck pleads with his audience to avoid violence. This shows how near to the wire this psychopath walks. Can you think of any other broadcaster having to make such a plea to their audience?
And we know that it is highly likely that Beck is already responsible for certain unhinged lunatics deciding that they were going to attack people, because the people they set out to attack are virtually unknown. Except, of course, that Glenn Beck talks about them with monotonous frequency during his conspiracy rants.
How would he have heard of the Tides Foundation?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."
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.Indeed, Beck even appears to be proud that no-one had heard of Tides before he put it on his blackboard:
BECK: Then he says, the reason why I'm trouble is because no one knew what Tides was before Glenn Beck's blackboard. Tides was one of the hardest things that we ever tried to explain, and everyone told us that we couldn't. It is the reason why the blackboard really became what the blackboard is, is because I was trying to explain Tides, and how all of this worked. Now, you'll notice that I'm a danger because no one knew what Tides was until the blackboard. Meaning that they need the cover of darkness. They must silence people that turn the light of day on to these organizations.People who "turn the light of day on these organisations"? If "the light of day" is a "five to eight minute shoot-out" between the police and a disturbed individual who wanted to "kill people of importance at the Tides Foundation and the ACLU", then it's mission accomplished, Mr Beck.
And now, suddenly, he is calling on his listeners to eschew violence. I wonder if these things are somehow related?
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