I live in Birmingham, UK, so if you found yourself needing evidence that Fox News’ claim that this is a “Muslim-only” city where “non-Muslims simply don’t go in”, then as a white, non-religious male I am the living, breathing proof that we in fact “do go in”. In fact, 46% of Birmingham’s population is Christian, so non-Muslims go into Birmingham a LOT. They live here and everything.
The claim was made by the network’s Steve Emerson, who calls himself a “terrorism expert”, presumably because he is adept at displaying a considerable lack of humanity whilst exhibiting the kind of fear-mongering that will inveigle the ignorant into believing his thinly-veiled bigoted agenda. Branding Birmingham a “no-go zone” for non-Muslims, i.e. me, Paul Tamburro from Birmingham, Emerson went on to say that London is also inhabited by militant Muslim police officers who apprehend those not following Muslim dress codes. Now, I’ve been to London a few times, and not once was I thrown into prison for my patented Mountain Parka/Skinny Denims look.
Emerson, who has somehow managed to write six books on the subject of terrorism along with producing the documentary ‘Jihad in America’ without anyone questioning his authority on the matter, admittedly appeared to stun the Fox News anchor who was discussing the topic with him.
Seriously, look at her face. That’s the face of someone thinking “fuck, this is going to be trending in the morning”:
Watch Emerson fart out a selection of ridiculous claims from his stupid face-hole in the video below:
Surprisingly, Emerson’s claims were so ludicrous that he was forced to apologise. “My comments about Birmingham were totally in error,” he stated. “I do not intend to justify or mitigate my mistake by stating that I had relied on other sources because I should have been much more careful. There was no excuse for making this mistake and I owe an apology to every resident of Birmingham.” He also made a donation to the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, though many are calling for him to make an on-air apology, too.
His apology still hasn’t stopped the video from doing the rounds, though, as #FoxNewsFacts became one of the top trending topics in the UK, attracting a variety of witty criticisms of the network and Emerson himself. That’s the problem with the internet these days – you just can’t get away with being shamelessly bigoted anymore!
