From Media Matters
June 12, 2009 2:40 pm ET
SUMMARY: Sean Hannity has devoted a total of one sentence over two editions of his Fox News show to the topic of the June 10 shooting of a security guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
After having criticized other media for inadequately covering the June 1 shooting at an Army recruiting center in Arkansas, which resulted in the death of Pvt. William Long, Fox News host Sean Hannity has devoted a total of one sentence over two editions of his Fox News show to the June 10 shooting of Stephen T. Johns, a security guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, allegedly by white supremacist James W. von Brunn. Specifically, during a discussion about Rev. Jeremiah Wright's recent controversial comments, Hannity said, "[L]ook at this racist anti-Semite who -- involved in the shooting," and agreed with his guest's assertion that "we hear a lot about it, and we should."
In contrast to Hannity's general silence on the Johns shooting, during the June 9 edition of his Fox News program, Hannity stated of the Long murder that "[t]here's a little double standard in the way this was treated, both in the media and by the Obama administration, in comparing the killing of this abortion doctor, [George] Tiller." He later added that the Tiller murder "is similar, but it got a lot more coverage. ... Why would that be? Because they're very similar stories if you look at it."
As Think Progress noted, during the June 10 broadcast of his show, Hannity never once mentioned Johns' murder, though he did discuss at length David Letterman's jokes about Sarah Palin, the firing of Miss California Carrie Prejean, and actor Craig T. Nelson's take on the proper role of government. Similarly, Hannity did not substantively discuss the Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting during the June 11 edition of his show; he did host Prejean to comment on her recent dethronement.
From the June 11 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: "Them Jews won't let Obama talk to me."
NIGER INNIS (national spokesman, Congress of Racial Equality): Well, he's back at it again. You know, Wright has made a mint. He's become a very wealthy man pushing this kind of hate for many, many years. He almost cost Obama the presidency, and now he's undermining his administration. I hope President Obama's advisers are smart enough to tell him not to just stay silent which is what he's been doing, but to take this on.
HANNITY: All right. I want to get into this. First of all, Star, I'll get your reaction to this and then also his so-called clarification. Your thoughts.
STAR PARKER (syndicated columnist): Well, I think it's underappreciated just how entrenched hatred toward Jews are in the -- in some parts of the black community. In fact, radical Muslim influence has been growing in these communities for years through leaders from Louis Farrakhan, Malcolm X, others. They have a huge economy in most black communities and black neighborhoods. They've been recruited in our prisons, these young men, for decades.
I don't know how many even know that we today have sitting congressional black caucus members, too, that are Muslims, one from the state of Minnesota, where they've had deep problems with extremism, everything from Muslim taxi drivers who refuse to carry passengers that have liquor to Muslim grocery store clerks who refuse to let people buy pork.
You know, the challenge that we're faced with Jeremiah Wright is that he is not alone in black America. Of the 45,000 black churches in this country, only about 10 percent would be considered evangelical conservative and look at life through a biblical worldview to protect the interests of Israel. There are about the same amount that would agree with Jeremiah Wright. The rest just sit by silently --
INNIS: Star --
PARKER: -- because they're scared.
INNIS: Star, my dear friend, makes a very important point, and it's a point that we raised back in 2002 with President Bush and the White House and the attorney general, that the danger of Al Qaeda and other extremists making a connection between the nihilism that exists within a lot -- some of these black communities and people of color around the country that Wright talks about that. We made the clarion call; we rang the bell back then. And I'll tell you, with all this hate talk, you know, that we see in the establishment media --
HANNITY: Look at this.
INNIS: -- right? About Tiller and about --
HANNITY: Look at this -- look at this -- look at this racist anti-Semite who -- involved in the shooting.
INNIS: And we hear a lot about it, and we should. It was outrageous and it's a tragedy. But you don't hear about the jihadist radical Muslim convert that Star -- the type of people that Star's talking about, and the environment --
HANNITY: All right, let me ask you this --
INNIS: -- and here's the point. Wright's language, his rhetoric, this nonsense, has been pumped into the black community on -- not just in churches, but on college campuses and a variety of other places.
HANNITY: Let me get this in, because I think this is really important. Because we now find from Newsweek via BET.com that, in fact, that Barack Obama privately and secretly met with Reverend Wright during the campaign. Now I don't know -- can we tie -- first of all, I find that -- was he secretly winking and nodding to him? In other words, does he hold the extremist views of Jer -- see, I think he does.
M.C.L. comment: It does not shock me that Hannity rather to talk about Rev.Wright's Jew comment then talk about how him and his friends on right wing talk radio is fueling the growing violence committed right wingers.
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