Radio host suggests putting GPS on Muslim immigrants

Radio host suggests putting GPS on Muslim immigrants
U.S. should consider bugging homes, monitoring calls, e-mails

A radio talk show host in Denver asked his audience to consider whether or not it would be right for all Muslim immigrants admitted to the U.S. to wear GPS units and have the FBI bug their homes and monitor their telephone calls and e-mails.

The comments from "Gunny Bob" Newman on 850 AM KOA radio were reported by the Denver Post. He was reacting to the recent arrests of six men charged in an alleged plot to attack and kill as many soldiers as they could at Fort Dix, N.J.

The suspects, Muslims, have been ordered held without bond, and court documents now reveal one of the men told the others how to make bombs and gave them weapons for the planned attack.

Newman, on his talk show on a station that also carries Rush Limbaugh, the nation's most-listened-to radio talk show host, said he was fed up with attacks by Muslims on the U.S. and its interests.

"I want – tell me if I'm wrong or tell me if I'm right. I want every Muslim immigrant in America who holds a green card, a visa, or who is a naturalized citizen to be required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times," Newman said in a recent diatribe against such unprovoked attacks on the U.S.

"And the FBI and the NSA should monitor their phones and their e-mails, all communications – electronic – at all times, as well as bug their places of work and their residences. If they don't like the idea, or if they refuse, throw their a---- out of this country," he said.

"All mosques and community centers as well as Muslim organizations must be monitored. We know with the arrests … that the Muslim terrorists are absolutely, positively here – and we invited them to our country! And I think maybe it's time that we should stop doing that," he said.

The words immediately unleashed a firestorm of criticism from organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, and a lobbying campaign convinced three companies to withdraw their advertising from the show.

"We sent numerous e-mails," said a spokeswoman for Colorado Media Matters, which bills itself as a resource that monitors and corrects conservative broadcast statements.

His boss at the Clear Channel station, Kris Olinger, reported "Gunny Bob" was expressing an opinion, "an extreme one, but his opinion. [Hosts] are paid to express opinions. That's the nature of what we do."

"Newsradio 850 KOA understands that some of you may have been offended by remarks Gunny Bob made regarding Muslim immigrants to the United States. That was not the intention. 850 KOA believes in being fair and respectful while encouraging discussion and debate of complex issues," the station said in a website statement.

"Call me kooky, but I think maybe it's time for a little moratorium on Muslim visas, period. Hey, I'm sorry guys – I know that a lot of you are great people. I know you just like to do business here or become a U.S. citizens (sic) and be a peaceful person. I know that. But you know what? You better get control of your own people. Once you get control of them, then come see us again and we'll think about – however many decades down the road it is – we'll think about maybe opening our doors to you again.

"But you are doing absolutely freaking nothing to help, to, to help this nation. And that's that," Newman said.

Newman had been honored in 2006 with a "Gunny Bob Day" declaration by Colorado's governor, who wrote the three-hour daily program is responsible for "educating and enlightening Colorado citizens on a variety of topics from counter-terrorism to survival tactics" and "the State of Colorado recognizes Gunny Bob for his ability to keep citizens informed about war tactics and strategies, as well as the current situation in the Global War on Terror."

In a Denver Post column, Dick Kreck noted that Newman is a "conservative talk show" host for whom "rash, rude and inflammatory statements are common."

Bill Menezes, chief of the Colorado Media Matters, said Newman is seeking to "deny to members of a specific religion the same rights that his employer states are integral in the treatment of its own employees."

"In dealing with the recent Don Imus controversy, NBC News President Steve Capus emphasized that it was important for NBC's employees to have confidence in the company's values. It's time for Ms. Olinger and Clear Channel to step up and have a public conversation about why one employee is allowed to broadcast values that it won't stand for elsewhere within its own organization," Menezes wrote.

After making his comments, and seeing some of the reaction, Newman acknowledged that visitors to what he described as "liberal hate blogs" were suggesting "liberals should protest me and my right to freedom of speech" at signings of his new book, "The War for America."

He then said those who might protest are "holier-than-thou, politically correct, anti-First Amendment, namby-pamby fools."

"Who the heck do you think you are to say an American citizen doesn't have the right to state his or her opinion?" wrote blogger "DB" about the situation. "Here I am to state my opinion! Get out of it! If you don't like it turn the d--- channel! We love Gunny Bob! He says it like it is."

Newman noted the "irony and hypocrisy" of those activists who protest against his First Amendment rights using their own First Amendment rights."

Newman "is one of the very few that live in the land of reality. He is one of the few that recognizes the Islamic faith as a terrorist faith. I certainly see it and once these people kill 100,000 Americans or so, others will recognize it," wrote "swatson839" on an online comment page.