To: Bob Pittman, CEO, Clear Channel

Take Bob Davis off the air

Bob Davis, a radio host on Twin Cities News Talk AM 1130 in Minneapolis, said that he'd like to tell the parents of Sandy Hook victims to "go to hell" for infringing on his Second Amendment rights. Take Bob Davis off the air; he is a stain upon your station's reputation. Victims deserve respect and compassion, not vitriol and hate.

Why is this important?

Bob Davis, a radio host on Twin Cities News Talk AM 1130 in Minneapolis, a Clear Channel station, said that he'd like to tell the parents of Sandy Hook victims to "go to hell" for infringing on his Second Amendment rights. Davis said, "I'm sick and tired of seeing these victims trotted out, given rides on Air Force One, hauled into the Senate well, and everyone is just afraid -- they're terrified of these victims. ... I would stand in front of them and tell them, 'Go to hell.'" He also stated, "I'm sorry that you suffered a tragedy, but you know what? Deal with it, and don't force me to lose my liberty, which is a greater tragedy than your loss."* To compare one's political views to the brutal and violent loss of a child is disrepectful and inhuman.

This hate-filled talk is unimaginably painful for victims' families. Enough is enough: we have to start standing up against hate speech perpetrated by radio hosts and return to a landscape of decent speech and behavior toward our fellow Americans. Sensationalism, while it sells lots of advertisements, appeals to our worst selves and has no place in a time when deep divisions in our country require us to find common ground.

(*as reported by Cavan Sieczkowski for the Huffington Post; April 18, 2013)