The gunman who injured two police officers in a shootout while on his way to assault the Tides Foundation headquarters has officially acknowledged Glenn Beck as his inspiration. Byron Williams:
"I would have never started watching Fox News if it wasn't for the fact that Beck was on there. And it was the things that he did, it was the things he exposed that blew my mind." [...]
Now, in exclusive interviews and written correspondence with journalist John Hamilton, Williams speaks for himself. He asks Hamilton to be his "media advocate" and repeatedly instructs him to watch specific broadcasts of Beck's show for information on the conspiracy theory that drove him over the edge: an intricate plot involving Barack Obama, philanthropist George Soros, a Brazilian oil company, and the BP disaster.
Williams also points to other media figures -- right-wing propagandist David Horowitz, and Internet conspiracist and repeated Fox News guest Alex Jones -- as key sources of information to inspire his "revolution."
In a separate exchange with Examiner.com's Ed Walsh, Williams sought to defend Beck from "Obama and the liberals," whom he said are afraid of Beck "because he often exposes things that are simply forbidden in news."
Yes, because fiction delivered by a scam artist playing a televangelist is often (but not always) frowned upon in "news."
Also, I wonder if anyone will classify what's going on here as terrorism. Ultimately, that's what it is. With all the demonization of progressive organizations happening on the Glenn Beck show in front of an audience of 10+ million people, it must be more than a little nerve-wracking to show up for work at Tides or CAP or the ACLU these days. How many other Byron Williamses are lurking around out there, polishing their firearms with that punch-me-face faker on in the background egging them on?