On July 18, the California Highway Police noticed what we in the UK would call a pick-up truck being driven erratically on Interstate 580. So they pulled it over, and then the fun began. The driver, Byron Williams, had a history of violent behaviour: as an officer approached the truck, he opened fire. There then followed a shootout lasting approximately ten minutes, during which around sixty rounds were discharged. Williams, bloody but apparently unbowed, was arrested.
The Police then found that Williams, who had been wearing body armour, had a number of firearms with him. He justified their possession by stating plainly that he was on his way to San Francisco to kill “people of importance” at the Tides Foundation. Who they?
Well, Tides says this: “Our mission is to partner with philanthropists, foundations, activists and organisations across the country and across the globe to promote economic justice, robust democratic processes, and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected”.
On the face of it, this non-profit organisation sounds equally non-threatening, but something about it had clearly set Williams off. His mother gave a clue: her son had become angry after seeing news items about how “Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items”. Who might be delivering such slanted journalism to a suggestible audience? Well, there’s only one pundit majoring on the Tides Foundation right now.
No prizes for guessing that the pundit concerned is the increasingly wayward Glenn Beck, “star” of Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse), whose blackboard of supposed conspiracy has featured Tides regularly – very regularly.
A video showing Beck demonising Tides has been compiled by MMFA, for whom Eric Boehlert gave this stark warning. As the title of Boehlert’s piece puts it, “Glenn Beck’s incendiary angst is dangerously close to having a body count”.
Does someone really have to die before this kind of thing gets stopped?
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