O'REILLY: In THE "FACTOR Follow-Up" segment tonight, another dubious controversy out of UC-Berkeley. A student newspaper out there, the "California Patriot," reported that some student leaders were objecting to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and other patriotic displays on 9/11.
School officials now deny that, but will not appear on Fox News.
Joining us from Oakland is the reporter who broke the story, Steve Sexton, who is a member of a Republican student group as well.
All right. What do you know, how do you know it, Steve?
STEVE SEXTON, "CALIFORNIA PATRIOT" WRITER: Well, we got wind that the planners for the event were specifically trying to exclude patriotism, including the National Anthem, "God Bless America," the American flag, and any displays of red, white and blue from the organized events on September 11.
And so I started investigating this, talking to the key people in the chancellor's office and the student body presidents's office and the graduate assembly office for a story in the "California Patriot," administration it confirmed what we'd heard kind of through the grapevine, that in fact they were trying to exclude signs of patriotism at the September 11...
O'REILLY: All right. But what exactly is the...
SEXTON: ... memorial.
O'REILLY: ... organized activity they're going to have on 9/11?
SEXTON: They've got some speeches and some music, and there was going to be some open microphone sessions. But what's important to note is that they have four university music and song groups scheduled to sing in the evening on Sproul Plaza, and they had told those groups not to sing any patriotic songs.
O'REILLY: Is that right? Do you know what songs they are scheduled to sing?
SEXTON: What I was able to get from the organizers is that they're going to be songs of remembrance. And the speeches that they'll be having at Memorial Glade earlier in the day are going to be about peace.
O'REILLY: OK.
SEXTON: But, but nothing patriotic.
O'REILLY: Interesting. Now, the -- when we called the chancellor's office, he's, Oh, no, no, no, we're not banning any patriotic displays, oh, this isn't happening, it's an exaggeration. How do you answer that?
SEXTON: Well, he was kind of caught with his pants down on this one. I don't think he knew really what was going on. And so after we broke the story and it got a lot of national attention, he called a hasty press conference and said, you know, There will be red, white and blue, we'll distribute red, white, administration blue ribbons, and attacked the reporting.
But he wasn't able to point to any part of the -- any part of the story that was inaccurate. And it really was sort of an immature and ill-planned press conference...
O'REILLY: All right. Well...
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: ... but it is possible that this guy Berdau (ph), right? Chancellor Robert Berdau, he just didn't know what was going on. I mean, you know how these guys are, I mean, they're running around raising money most of the time.
Why is there so much anti-American sentiment on that campus? I've asked that question on the radio today, and I had an instructor, you know, at the college, and I can't get a -- I mean, what is it out there? Why do they dislike America so much, many, many of the students and faculty?
SEXTON: Yes, oh, I'm not sure how many it is, really, but it -- there's an environment on campus that fosters that kind of speech, anti- American, anti-American speech, and that kind of sentiment. Whereas when you come out to defend patriotism or defend the country, you're kind of ridiculed for it.
And I think that's really what the problem is, not so much that there's this plague at UC-Berkeley where all students hate the country...
O'REILLY: No, I'm sure that they...
SEXTON: ... but (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they don't have a voice.
O'REILLY: Right. But there seems to be an atmosphere. And you know that the faculty really sets the tone of any school. That, look, you know, we're people who don't like the country and, you know, we, we're not going to support them no matter what they do.
Are there any faculty members that speak out against this stuff?
SEXTON: There really aren't, and there are -- but there are plenty faculty who teach American history focusing only on America's faults and not really emphasizing or even talking about the successes. And so I think that also fosters an environment in which students and faculty alike are going to be anti-American.
O'REILLY: Well, we're going to keep an eye on the situation. If indeed there is a four-group sing on 9/11 and none of them sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" or "America the Beautiful," then we're going to report that, because that's just an outrage.
This is a public university funded by the taxpayers of California. OK? And to continually spit in the face of the country that's provided these children with an education and these faculty members with a paycheck is reprehensible.
Mr. Sexton, thanks for your good work. We appreciate it.
SEXTON: Thank you, Bill.
O'REILLY: Keep an eye on them for us.
SEXTON: Will do.
Directly ahead, Alex and Derek King convicted of second-degree murder for beating their father to death with a baseball bat. Some people say the 13- and -14-year-olds should not do much jail time. We will challenge that assertion in just a few moments.