NPR's Williams fired for Muslim comment

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- America's National Public Radio has fired Juan Williams after he said seeing people in Muslim garb on planes makes him "worried" and "nervous."

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot," Williams said on Monday's edition of the Fox chat show "The O'Reilly Factor."

"You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country," Williams added during the discussion about political correctness. "But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

Williams also said he believes political correctness could "lead to some kind of paralysis, where you don't address reality."

The Los Angeles Times said NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik reported via Twitter that Williams was terminated as an NPR commentator because his comments "were inconsistent with our editorial standards."