DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — A Florida pastor at the center of a Koran-burning controversy was jailed briefly for refusing to pay what the authorities called a “peace bond” for a planned demonstration outside a mosque.
The pastor, Terry Jones, whose remarks against Muslims have inflamed anti-Western sentiment in Afghanistan, said he refused to pay the $1 bond because doing so would violate his freedom of speech. He was released from jail hours later after paying the $1.
Mr. Jones had planned a demonstration Friday outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the nation. Prosecutors worried that the protest would lead to violence, and asked Judge Mark Somers of 19th District Court in Dearborn to intervene. Judge Somers conducted a one-day jury trial to determine whether Mr. Jones posed a threat to peace. The jury concluded that he did, and the judge then ordered Mr. Jones and an associate to post the bond to cover the cost of police protection.
The bond also prohibited Mr. Jones from going to the mosque or the adjacent property for three years.
Video Muslims in Dearborn celbration of Terry Jones arrest and jailing.
http://www.answeringmuslims.com/ video
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/us/23pastor.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/23/terry-jones-jailed-michigan_n_852916.html
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