American radio talk-show host Michael Savage said he wants an apology from Britain’s home secretary and his name removed from a list of people banned from entering the United Kingdom.
“I’ve heard from British attorneys who are salivating to set the record straight and win quite a large settlement should she not remove my name from the list,” Savage said in an interview broadcast Thursday on CNN’s “American Morning.” Savage was referring to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, whose office recently excluded 22 people from entering the country because the government feels they have been “stirring up hatred.” The British government has cited Savage — who is on the list under his real name, Michael Alan Weiner — for “seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence.” Savage has made controversial statements against homosexuality, illegal immigrants from Mexico and Islam. He said that “borders, language and culture is the real message of ‘The Savage Nation,’ ” his radio talk show. “I’m a patriotic American, and if that’s a crime in England, God help us all,” he said. Watch as Savage says he wants to clear his name » Savage’s daily radio show does not air in Britain but is broadcast nationwide in the United States.
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Savage rejected the British government’s description of him, calling it “a demented attitude.” “She lumped me in with known murderers and terrorists, people who have been in prison for killing people,” Savage said of Smith. “I’ve been on the air for 15 years, three hours a day, five days a week. I have never, ever promoted violence. There has never been one violent incident attached to my show.” Smith has said she is determined to keep those who “spread extremism, hatred and violent messages” out of the country. “Coming to the UK is a privilege, and I refuse to extend that privilege to individuals who abuse our standards and values to undermine our way of life,” Smith said. “Therefore, I do not hesitate to name and shame those who foster extremist views, as I want them to know that they are not welcome here.” The Home Office has named 16 people on the list, saying it was not in the public interest to disclose the names of the other six. Included on the list are: The Rev. Fred Phelps and his daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, for “engaging in unacceptable behavior and fostering hatred.” Phelps and his followers at Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, oppose homosexuality. They picket the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, saying their deaths are God’s way of punishing the United States for supporting homosexuals. They have expressed similar views about the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Katrina. Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Don Black, who established the white supremacist Web site Stormfront. The Home Office called it one of the oldest and largest hate group sites. Erich Gliebe, chairman of the National Alliance, one of the largest neo-Nazi groups in the U.S. The Home Office accused Gliebe of “justifying terrorist violence, provoking others to commit serious crime and fostering racial hatred.” Samir al Quntar, a Lebanese man who spent three decades in prison for killing four Israeli soldiers and a 4-year-old girl in 1979. The Home Office lists al Quntar for “engaging in unacceptable behavior by seeking to foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence” to provoke terrorist acts. Nasr Javed, a leader of the Kashmiri militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Islamic clerics Abdul Ali Musa, Abdullah Qadri Al Ahdal, Amir Siddique, Yunis Al Astal and Safwat Hijazi. Wadgy Abd El Hamied Mohamed Ghoneim, whom the Home Office describes as a prolific writer and speaker. The Home Office said he has sought “to foment, justify or glory terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs and to provoke others to commit terrorist acts.”
Mike Guzofsky, the leader of a militant Jewish group with ties to Kahane Chai, a group that the U.S. State Department lists as a foreign terrorist organization. Russian skinheads Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky, whom the Home Office said are “leaders of a violent gang that beat migrants and posted films of their attacks on the Internet.”
