AP | By TAMARA LUSH
Published September 11, 2013 11:31PM EDT


MULBERRY, Fla. (AP) — A Florida pastor was arrested Wednesday as he drove a pickup truck towing a large barbecue-style grill filled with kerosene-soaked Qurans to a park, where the pastor had said he was planning to burn 2,998 of the Muslim holy books— one for every victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Sheriff's deputies in Polk County, Fla., arrested Pastor Terry Jones, 61, and his associate pastor, Marvin Sapp Jr., 44, each on a felony charge of unlawful conveyance of fuel. Jones had said he was heading to a nearby park in Mulberry to burn the Qurans on Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of the attacks. Sheriff's officials said that Jones was also charged with unlawful open-carry of a firearm, a misdemeanor, and that Sapp faces a charge of having no valid registration for the trailer.

Both were being booked Wednesday night into the Polk County jail, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.

Mulberry's mayor, along with area elected officials, a sheriff's deputy and several Polk County residents have talked about the need to express love and tolerance for all faiths on Sept. 11.

Jones is the pastor of a small evangelical Christian church. He first gained attention in 2010 when he planned to burn a Quran on the anniversary of 9/11, although he eventually called it off. His congregation did burn the Muslim holy book in March 2011 and last year he promoted an anti-Muslim film. All three incidents sparked violence in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
...

Jones has repeatedly ignored pleas from the U.S. military asking him not to stage his protests. Military officials say his actions put American and Western troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere in danger.


Mulberry is a town of about 3,000 between Orlando and Tampa and has no connection to Jones' church, which recently moved out of its Gainesville building.
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Earlier Wednesday, about 75 people gathered In Mulberry for an interfaith prayer service to counter Jones' actions.

Mike Ghouse, who has organized a 9/11 prayer service in his home state of Texas for nine years, brought his event to Mulberry because of Jones' planned Quran burning. He initially had planned to hold the service in Texas but teamed with a group of Mulberry residents who had organized an anti-Jones Facebook page.

"Everyone has a right to believe what they believe," said Ghouse, adding that it was Jones' right as an American to express himself. Others said that while Jones was free to say or do whatever he wanted, the people of Mulberry didn't want the world to think that the residents condone or agree with Jones' views.

Said Polk County resident Butch Rahman: "We don't buy what Jones is selling."

(Emphasis added)

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Driving around with 3,000 kerosene soaked prayer books is just plain crazy. Wanting to burn them in a public park to "honor" those killed on 9/11 is twisted. How does a burning/destroying prayer books help the families and other Americans in need? It is really just an attempt to agitate- similar but to a much lesser extent- that we blame Radical Islam for.

But, I do support the First Amendment and the rights of certain free expression. Quite a conflict when one hates the message, huh?

Peacefulness does not seem to be any part of this pastor's repertoire. I do not believe the one God we believe in looks kindly upon Pastor Jones. If he, his ilk and I all make it to heaven, then I will seriously question whether I belong in hell-so to speak...

Jones is a Total nutcase!

A nut is sometimes just nut. A book is just a book. And media attention is just fuel on the fire.

unlawful conveyance of fuel.......they should have just busted his tail light or something

How many Americans died so that Jones could speak his viewpoint?

Though I believe people like him are little more than a pimple on the ass of humanity if we aren't gonna persecute the other hate mo here on our soil, why him?

Agreed but: In a theater of war, aren't troops always in danger?

This kind of thinking illustrates the problem with using our military as worldwide police and social workers instead of what a military used to be for...to kill as many enemies and break as many of their things as quickly as possible using overwhelming force, achieve a clear cut victory, and get back home.

We've lost many American lives and wasted a crap-ton of money in Iraq and Afghanistan, for what? Those places are still sh*tholes full of fundamentalist Muslim nut jobs who think this is still the 14th century.

Of course they are. I think they are communicating increased danger when they ask him to STFU.

They didn't have to break a tail light. The idiot was driving around towing a potential inferno.

Ever been to Mulberry?

He could be the mayor!!![frypan]

Freedom of speech cuts both ways. Don't like it? Don't listen to it!

When the cops stopped him with the bogus charges he should have thrown a lit zippo in to the whole mess and started dancing the Dougie.

Robert you surprise me. You're an attorney how did you miss this?

Is there a law against towing a barbeque trailor in FL. If so where is the citation for that? How would the police know he had a bunch of kerosene soaked books inside? I'm trying to figure out what the reasonable suspicion was to conduct a traffic stop? Absent more "information" I'm gonna say this gets tossed and Jones sues for unlawful search and seizure.

ya.... somebody prolly narked him out... 😟

He may have advertised his intent and the act of soaking the filthy books. I doubt he did it discretely.

were they gonna roast Nathan weiners or just burn books..?? 😕

Is Nathan's weiner made out of pork?

better check with Bloody..... he prolly knows... 😟

He said Nathan's weiner tastes salty and creates it's own sauce.

....but given enough time, those places will transform into somewhere neat like Copenhagen.

Yes. We have an exploding barbeque grill problem here in Florida.



It is unlawful for any person to maintain, or possess any conveyance or vehicle that is equipped with, fuel tanks, bladders, drums, or other containers that do not conform to 49 C.F.R. or have not been approved by the United States Department of Transportation for the purpose of hauling, transporting, or conveying motor or diesel fuel over any public highway. Any person who violates any provision of this subsection commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, and, in addition, is subject to the revocation of driver license privileges as provided in s. 322.26.



I don't see kerosene mentioned. The law also does not apply if the amount of motor fuel is 8 gallons or less. I wonder how much taxpayer money will be used to squeeze the kerosene out of the Korans to prove it was more than 8 gallons and to find a motor that will burn it.

This arrest is harassment but it worked. Maybe they should have just shot him and dumped him in an orange grove or a meth lab and then blew the place up. It is Polk County.

I'd herf with him.