NPR Receives Bomb Threat After Juan Williams Firing

By Ben Armbruster The media firestorm that resulted from NPR’s decision to fire Juan Williams for making a bigoted remark about Muslims included rhetorical bombs lobbed from Williams’ cohorts at Fox News. As Media Matters noted, conservatives have used Williams’ firing as an excuse to

continue their war on NPR and to call for its defunding. “Juan Williams was put up against a wall and NPR shot him,” Glenn Beck claimed, who also said that “voices are being silenced” by “jack-booted thugs.” Many Fox Newsers even tried to explain NPR’s decision as some sort of George Soros-linked conspiracy. Today, the Washington Post reports NPR received a bomb threat today, and while the threat didn’t specifically cite the Williams saga, NPR officials said the “tone” suggested it was involved:

NPR received a bomb threat Monday, five days after its decision to fire news analyst Juan Williams sparked a hugely negative reaction.

Sources at the news organization said the threat was received via U.S. mail and was immediately turned over to local police and the FBI. The organization did not publicly disclose the threat or release details, on the advice of law enforcement officials.

The letter didn’t reference the Williams firing specifically, but people at NPR, who spoke about it on the condition of anonymity, said the timing and tone suggested it was sent after Williams’s widely publicized termination.

NPR warned its employees this week to be extra cautious, citing a general “security threat” in a staff memo. “We’re being more aware of who’s entering the building” and generally being more vigilant,” an NPR spokesperson said.