“CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said the Islamic organization had ‘nothing whatsoever’ to do with any threats and that any allegations to that effect would be ‘scurrilous.'” Of course, Ibrahim. And you and your allies know all about scurrilous death threat allegations.
“Michael Savage Drops Suit Against Islamic Group,” from CBS5.com, August 15 (thanks to all who sent this in):
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ― A lawsuit filed by conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage against a Muslim civil rights group came to an end Thursday when Savage’s lawyer told a federal judge in San Francisco that he won’t try to amend it.
Savage sued the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as CAIR, last year after it posted on its Web site a four-minute excerpt of anti-Islamic comments by Savage along with a critique of his words.
Savage made the comments during an Oct. 29, 2007, broadcast of The Savage Nation, a nationally syndicated show based in San Francisco.
They included remarks that “you can take (CAIR) and throw them out of my country” and that Muslims were “screaming for the blood of Christians or Jews or anyone they hate.”
Last month, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston dismissed the lawsuit. She permanently dismissed Savage’s claim of copyright infringement, saying that CAIR’s posting of the comments for the purposes of criticism was protected by the right of free speech.
But the judge said Savage could try to amend a second claim of racketeering by trying to show specific alleged financial harm by CAIR to his business. She gave Savage a deadline of Friday.
In a notice filed Thursday, attorney Daniel Horowitz said Savage decided not to file an amended racketeering claim.
In an unusual three-page filing, Horowitz told the judge that he had prepared a 116-page amended lawsuit, but that Savage decided not to file it because of “factors arising out of this litigation but taking place (or potentially have an effect) outside of this litigation.”
The court filing gave no details, but in a telephone interview Horowitz said the factors included an alleged phone threat to Savage. Horowitz said he wasn’t accusing the Islamic group of making threats, but said Savage didn’t want to take the risk that the case could inspire a “lone nut” to try to harm his family.
CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said the Islamic organization had “nothing whatsoever” to do with any threats and that any allegations to that effect would be “scurrilous.”
Hooper said, “It’s clear that this baseless and frivolous lawsuit wasn’t going anywhere and he decided to cut his losses.”…