Steven Emerson: the Fox news expert who thinks Birmingham is 'totally Muslim'
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Version 0 of 1. Age: definitely over 50, maybe even 60, but honestly, don’t quote me. Appearance: frequent, apparently. Occupation: “Internationally recognised expert on terrorism and national security”, but don’t ask me where I got that from. Where did you get that from? His website, I think. You don’t seem very certain. I’m careful. You can’t just make stuff up and then go spouting it in the mainstream media. What has this Emerson been up to? He said that Birmingham was a totally Muslim city. On Fox News. Hang on – are you sure that’s what he meant? What was the actual quote? He said: “In Britain, it’s not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don’t go in.” Is that true? I just remember it being really hard to find parking. No, it’s not true. Muslims comprise about 22 per cent of Birmingham’s population. I guess a guy’s entitled to make one enormous mistake on a scaremongering and frequently inaccurate TV news channel. He also said that in “parts of London, there are actual religious police that actually beat and actually wound seriously anyone who doesn’t dress according to religious Muslim attire.” Of course. One hears of nothing else. He did acknowledge his error quickly. “I am issuing an apology and correction on my website immediately,” he wrote, “for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham.” The what? He’s obviously never even been there! His words subsequently became the subject of much Twitter mockery under the hashtag #foxnewsfacts Well he sounded sorry enough. Unfortunately, Mr Emerson has a reputation for making this sort of mistake. “Oklahoma City, I can tell you, is probably considered one of the largest centres of Islamic radical activity outside the Middle East,” he once said. Sounds unlikely, but then again, I’ve never been. Unluckily for Emerson, he said it just after the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995, and just before anti-government radical Timothy McVeigh was arrested for it. Do say: “I am not going to make any excuses. I made an inexcusable error.” – Steven Emerson Don’t say: “Grossly inaccurate and completely unfair – there are so many, many reasons people don’t go to Birmingham.” |