On Wednesday afternoon, C. Taylor Walet III, area president/Nebraska for iHeart Media said in a news release that Baker’s employment was terminated.
“We are aware of the completely inappropriate and unacceptable tweet that was posted late Tuesday afternoon. Please know that this does not represent our viewpoint or our values, and we take this situation very seriously,” said Taylor “Accordingly, Chris Baker’s employment with our Company has been terminated.”
CONTENT WARNING: To see the original tweet, please scroll to the bottom of this story.
Until Wednesday, Baker was the conservative host of an afternoon talk show. Yesterday, following the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, he published a tweet with the word “Guilty!” above an image of indigenous, people of color wearing traditional garb.
The juxtaposition of the image with the text seemed to imply that this was how the Black community would celebrate the verdict.
Negative reaction to the tweet has been pouring in on Twitter from around the world.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, denounced the tweet in a release sent on Wednesday morning.
“We encourage Mr. Baker to apologize for this racist tweet, resign, and meet with Black community leaders to grow as a human being,” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “No one is born a racist. Racism is learned, and racism can be unlearned through accountability, education, healing and faith. The accountability should begin right now with Mr. Baker’s resignation.”
