STOP Glenn Beck from promoting Terrorism
On Sunday, July 18, unhinged ex-convict Byron Williams loaded
his truck with guns and headed up a California highway with the intention of starting a revolution. If he hadn't been stopped
by brave officers -- two of whom were wounded in the confrontation -- he could have carried out a plan to kill staff at progressive
organizations, including the Tides Foundation.
What is the Tides Foundation? It's the nonprofit that Glenn
Beck brags about "turning the light of day" on by constantly attacking it as part of a socialist conspiracy to destroy our
government. The Tides Foundation isn't the shadowy political influence of Beck's fantasies -- it's a transparent organization
known in the philanthropic community for doing good public service. Make no mistake: Beck's intention was to paint the Tides
Foundation as a dangerous, increasingly powerful threat to freedom that must be stopped. And Williams set out to stop them.
It's time for those who profit from Beck to take responsibility
for his incitements to violence. Beck's paranoid, dishonest and incendiary rhetoric doesn't just reflect on Beck -- it reflects
on News Corp., Fox News' parent company, and its shareholders. Morgan Stanley owns nearly $300,000,000 in News Corp. stock,
Bank of New York more than $175,000,000, Goldman Sachs $115,000,000, and JPMorgan Chase nearly $70,000,000. As owners of the
company, they need to take responsibility for the conduct of its employees.
Demand that News Corp.'s major shareholders renounce Glenn Beck's
violent rhetoric and its dangerous consequences.
As Media Matters Senior Fellow Eric Boehlert wrote:
Indeed, for more than a year Beck has been portraying the
progressive organization as a central player in a larger, nefarious cabal of Marxist/socialist/Nazi Obama-loving outlets determined
to destroy democracy in America. Beck has routinely smeared the low-profile entity for being staffed by "thugs" and "bullies"
and involved in "the nasty of the nastiest," like indoctrinating schoolchildren and creating a "mass organization to seize
power."
As Media Matters reported, the conspiratorial host had mentioned
(read: attacked) the little-known progressive organization nearly 30 times on his Fox program alone since it premiered in
2009, including several mentions in the last month. (Beck's the only TV talker who regularly references the foundation, according
to our Nexis searches.)
So yes, Beck has done all he can to scare the hell out of
people about the Tides Foundation and "turn the light of day" onto an organization that actually facilitates non-profit giving.
And guess what? Everybody in America would have found out
about the Tides Foundation last week if Byron Williams had had his way.
Demand that News Corp.'s major shareholders renounce Glenn
Beck's violent rhetoric and its dangerous consequences.
