In a jailhouse confession, a California man has admitted it was Fox News host Glenn Beck who inspired him to plot the assassination of employees of the ACLU and the Tides Foundation. Byron Williams made national headlines in July, when he was arrested after he opened fire on California Highway Patrol officers. The shootout occurred as Williams was driving to the headquarters of the Tides Foundation headquarters in San Francisco. Earlier today, the media watchdog group Media Matters released audio from a jailhouse interview in which Williams talks about Beck’s influence.

Byron Williams: “I would have never started watching Fox News if it wasn’t for the fact that Beck was on there. And it was the things that he did, it was the things he exposed, that blew my mind. I said, 'Well, nobody does this.' …Beck will never say anything about a conspiracy, will never
advocate violence. He’ll never do anything of this nature. But he’ll give you every ounce of evidence that you could possibly need. Go look at all the stuff that you’ll find. I would suggest you go back and see, try to find the videos about –– all the June videos.”

That was Byron Williams being interviewed by freelance journalist John Hamilton. According to Media Matters, in the eighteen months before the shooting, Beck used his Fox News show to attack the Tides Foundation twenty-nine times, claiming that the small foundation is part of a secret George Soros-funded plot to infiltrate and gain control of big businesses and to indoctrinate the youth of America. Even after the shooting Beck continued to threaten Tides.

Glenn Beck: “I’m just going to throw this message out for the people at the Tides Foundation: I’m coming for you. Oh, I’m coming for you. Well, no, not in a — not — Glenn Beck making threats? No, mm-mm. Nope, I’m just going to reverse all the things that you have done, all the things that you have done. The tide is about to change.”