The US pastor whose burning of a copy of the holy Quran sparked deadly violence in Afghanistan has been briefly jailed in a heavily Islamic suburb after a court banned his protest outside a mosque. A local judge jailed pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida, and his associate Wayne Sapp on Friday after a court ruled that their planned protest outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan, could lead to violence.
In court, Jones argued that the holy Quran “promotes terrorist activities around the world”. He also insisted that his right to protest against Islam was protected by the US Constitution. “The First Amendment does us no good if it confines us to saying what is popular,” he said. But Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad testified that his department had received information about serious threats made against Jones from local residents, arguing that his protest could lead to violence if allowed.
Prosecutor Robert Moran argued that the protest had nothing to do with the First Amendment and that the community’s security and peace were at stake. In the end, the jury sided with the prosecution and Judge Mark Somers set bond at the symbolic amount of a dollar each for the two pastors, which they initially refused to pay. Following their refusal, both were escorted to a local jail. But local media reported that they changed their minds after spending about an hour behind bars and posted the bond. Under the judge’s ruling, both Jones and Sapp are now prohibited by the court from going to the mosque for three years.