He’s back!
(Orlando Sun Sentinel) Controversial Gainesville Pastor Terry Jones, known for his plans to publicly burn copies of the Muslim holy book, was arrested Wednesday with thousands of kerosene-soaked Qurans, authorities said.
Jones, 61, was arrested on felony charges after a traffic stop near a pharmacy in Mulberry, a small town in Polk County, just before 5 p.m. He faces charges of unlawfully transporting fuel and openly carrying a firearm.
Deputies said Jones was riding in a pickup truck that was towing a smoker and trailer filled with kerosene-soaked Qurans. He also had extra bottles of kerosene inside the truck bed.
According to Jones’ website, he planned to burn 2,998 Qurans in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday. He was arrested along with Associate Pastor Marvin Sapp.
“My detectives had many conversations with Terry Jones prior to today,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Wednesday. “He was told he was welcome to come to Polk County and express his First Amendment rights. However, if he violated the law, he would absolutely be arrested and placed in the county jail.
There are many who are saying “yeah, couldn’t happen to a nicer person” and celebrating his arrest. While Jones (I refuse to call him a pastor) is not a nice person, is a wacko and a jerk, to put it mildly, he was going to engage in his 1st Amendment Rights, and the police just happened to stop him and arrest him after warning him. By what law did they stop him? They certainly couldn’t see the gun. What was the traffic stop based on? Police can’t just pull someone over for no reason that they can see. It looks as if Nutjob was intentionally targeted by the police because they did not approved of what he planned to do.
While I personally think he should stop this burning Korans for many reasons, we should all consider the implications of Government interfering with someone engaged in Free Speech and demonstration. Especially Free Speech and demonstration that we disagree with. That’s one of the main points of those clauses, to protect what which we do not disagree with. Oh, and to tell Government “hands off”. The next person stopped and arrested could be you.
Rick Moran kinda wants it both ways (and it’s not just Nazi’s that burn books), and here’s Melissa McEwan showing Typical Liberal Tolerance
I’m sure he will not be charged with a terrorist act, but he should be. He is blatantly and unapologetically trying to incite hostilities against Muslim USians; he is actively trying to create an unsafe environment for them. This behavior should be absolutely intolerable to any society that espouses a belief in equality. No one is equal when serious threats against them are not taken seriously. This fucking guy. Our fucking priorities.
I won’t deny that Jones is being, to continue Melissa’s use of vulgarity, an asshole, but he is also engaged, as mentioned, in 1st Amendment Rights. People like McEwan should be really careful in how they position their view of the 1st, in this case calling it terrorism, because that is a near vertical drop covered in petroleum jelly. What’s good for the goose might just backfire on the gander.
Also, consider that she considers burning Korans a “threat”. Why would this be a “threat”, unless there are people who would get extraordinarily violent? Oh, and considering her views on men and other-than-Muslim religions, she’s one of the last people who should be discussing equality.
