(via Media Matters for America)
On the March 8 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, Rev. Jerry Falwell baselessly suggested that 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic, who shot nine people at a Salt Lake City mall in February, was a “radical Islamic terrorist,” before adding, “[b]ut the press never mentions that — most of the press — because they are trying to keep Islam in a good light here in this country.” In fact, media outlets have reported that Talovic is a Muslim while also reporting that authorities say there is no evidence that his faith played a part in his actions.
Talovic, a Bosnian immigrant, killed five people at Salt Lake City's Trolley Square shopping center before he was shot and killed by police. As Media Matters for America noted when right-wing radio host Michael Savage made a claim similar to Falwell's, a February 14 Associated Press article did, in fact, address the possibility that Talovic's actions were motivated by religion, terrorism, or both. The article reported that “authorities tried to figure out why a teenage Bosnian immigrant committed the rampage and how he got his hands on a gun. FBI agent Patrick Kiernan in Salt Lake City said the bureau had no reason to believe Sulejman Talovic, who was killed by police, was motivated by religious extremism or an act of terrorism.” The article also quoted Ajka Omerovic, Talovic's aunt, as saying, “We are Muslims, but we are not terrorists.”
Just because Falwell (and Beck) automatically “think” Muslim == terrorist doesn’t mean the rest of the media has to do so too.
See also: Out of Respect