Juan Williams has written several books on race and civil rights US radio network National Public Radio has fired news analyst Juan Williams for saying on Fox News that he gets nervous if he sees Muslims on an plane.
The journalist appeared on The O’Reilly Factor to discuss host Bill O’Reilly’s appearance on TV show The View last week, when he voiced controversial opinions on Muslims and 9/11.
NPR said in a statement that Williams’s contract had been ended on Wednesday.
The journalist has written several books on the US civil rights movement.
“The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet,” O’Reilly said during The O’Reilly Factor.
Credibility ‘undermined’
Williams said he concurred with O’Reilly.
“I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous,” Williams said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said before Mr Williams was sacked that such commentary from a journalist about other racial, ethnic or religious minority groups would not be tolerated.
In its statement, NPR said Mr Williams’s comments “were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR”.
Mr Williams has also served as a reporter and columnist for the Washington Post.
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