WikipediaBirmingham is a city in England.Fox News commentator and terrorism expert Steve Emerson has apologised after calling the city of Birmingham "totally Muslim" on a segment this weekend.
"In Britain, it's not just no-go zones, there are actually cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don't go in," Emerson told Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.
Emerson's comment - which is completely inaccurate - was made after a series of terrorist attacks in Paris last week, including a massacre at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo for republishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. Of the more than 1 million people that live in Birmingham, nearly half of them are Christan, according to data from the 2011 Census. Around 22% are Muslim.
Here's a breakdown of religions from the Census:
Emerson, who is the executive director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, has been mocked on Twitter under the hashtag #FoxNewsFacts.
I think Steve Emerson from @FoxNews is about a good a terror expert as I am a brain surgeon #FoxNews #foxnewsfacts
- Cheese Bag (@cheesebag) January 12, 2015
The other assault on #journalism was by FoxNews, see awful things said on their show about my home town #foxnewsfactshttp://t.co/YgzljVV1Kq
- Richard Tromans (@TromansConsult) January 12, 2015
Misinformation not news.Shame on #FoxNews as 'expert' makes incredibly wrong claims on Islam in Europe. http://t.co/Wqnu2vFKPO #foxnewsfacts
- sigridir (@sigridir) January 12, 2015
In a statement sent to The Huffington Post, Emerson said: "I have clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry. My comments about Birmingham were totally in error. And I am issuing an apology and correction on my website immediately for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham."
Here's the clip. Emerson's comment on Birmingham are made around the 1:40 mark.