Reporting that “reactionary radio host and white supremacist Hal Turner was taken into custody Wednesday after remarks urging Catholics to ‘take up arms’ against two Connecticut lawmakers and a state ethics official over legislation… regarding the church,” independent news outlet Raw Story‘s John Byrne (6/4/09) deepens the story by recalling that “Turner used to be a regular on Sean Hannity’s radio show (the Fox News pundit)”:
When Hannity said he didn’t have an association with Turner earlier this year, Turner wrote:
I was quite disappointed when Sean Hannity at first tried to say he didn’t know me and then went on to say that I ran some senate campaign in New Jersey. In fact, Sean Hannity does know me and we were quite friendly a number of years ago.
When Hannity took over Bob Grant‘s spot on 77 WABC in New York City, I was a well-known, regular and welcome caller to his show. Through those calls, Sean and I got to know each other a bit and at some point, I can’t remember exactly when, Sean gave me the secret “Guest call-in number” at WABC so that my calls could always get on the air.
Here, for your own consideration, is Crooks and Liars blogger John Amato quoting Turner’s language that Connecticut Police Chief Michael J. Fallon deemed “above and beyond the threshold of free speech” for “inciting others through his website to commit acts of violence”:
“It is our intent to foment direct action against these individuals personally,” the blog stated. “These beastly government officials should be made an example of as a warning to others in government: Obey the Constitution or die.”
And, the post continued, “If any state attorney, police department or court thinks they’re going to get uppity with us about this; I suspect we have enough bullets to put them down too.”
Directly referring to the reason such hate speech is such a hot topic currently, the Hartford Courant reports that “elsewhere on [Turner’s] blog, the recent fatal shooting of a Kansas abortion provider is called ‘a righteous act.'”