On May 19, nationally syndicated right-wing radio host Michael Savage called the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) “the most dangerous organization in the history of America” and advocated that “these big-mouthed, phony scum of the ACLU ... should be put into Abu Ghraib prison.” After several offices of the ACLU “refused to come on the show,” as Savage put it, he issued the following attacks on the civil liberties organization during his May 19 broadcast:

Look the ACLU is Christophobic, they hate Christians. It's the Anti Christian Libertarians Union -- Libertines Union, that's how I name them. The ACLU is the Anti Christian Libertine Union; they had no problem in saying for example, that the crèche scene in your community was offensive. They didn't say that that was a right to expression of speech. But they said that a Muslim call to prayer over loudspeakers five times a day should be protected. The ACLU is the most dangerous organization in the history of America. They should be closed down under RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations] Statutes.

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Now we invited the ACLU of Michigan on The Savage Nation, they refused to come on the show. We invited the New York office, and the Washington, D.C. office ... on The Savage Nation, these big-mouthed, phony scum of the ACLU, who should be rounded up, arrested for sedition. Their property seized, and they should be put into Abu Ghraib prison as far as I'm concerned. That wouldn't be enough of what I'd like to see done to the ACLU. They're the worst vermin America has ever tolerated. The worst vermin in the history of America are the vermin in the ACLU. They've broken the crosses off war memorials. They attack everything to do with Christianity. But the Muslim prayers are just fine. I wrote about it in The Enemy Within. All Religions are attacked except one.

As Media Matters for America reported on May 18, Savage said, during his May 14 broadcast, “There is no greater friend of Al Qaeda than the ACLU.”