Source: Record Searchlight
http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_local/article/0,2232,REDD_17533_4986480,00.html
On September 12, 2006 the Record Searchlight reported, "Redding Mayor Ken Murray has apologized for remarks made last week at a Sept. 11 commemoration at which he called Shiite Muslims 'wing nuts' who lie, cheat and steal for their God. 'I attributed these perverted beliefs to a sect of Shiite Muslims. Was I wrong?' Murray said Monday on his radio show 'Murray in the Morning' on Redding talk radio station KQMS. 'As a matter of fact, I was wrong.' He added later that he owed Shiites an apology and said he actually was referring to a sect of Islam called the Wahhabi, whose followers include Osama bin Laden. Although they're in the minority, the Wahhabi dominate the Arabian peninsula, and they 'have no problem lying, cheating, killing Christians, killing Muslims or anyone who doesn't meet their litmus test,' Murray said. The mayor's retraction came after a weekend of criticism of Thursday's 'One Nation Under God' at the Shasta County courthouse. During the ceremony, Murray spoke alongside other Christian public officials and religious leaders to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks... Murray defended his statements that Christianity is in a spiritual war with Islamic fundamentalists."