"Reverend" Terry Jones has come to Dearborn!

[phesina]

At the airport he told a local news reporter he does NOT plan to burn a Koran tomorrow. Saints be praised! Let's hope he keeps his word on that.

Being the devout, pious Christian that he is, he plans to observe the solemnity and sacrifice of Good Friday by spewing hate messages toward the local Muslims. He intends to hold his demonstration "against Sharia law in Dearborn" (or "Dearbornistan" as many as his fellow zealots call it) at the Islamic Center tomorrow.

Nobody is challenging his First Amendment right to say whatever he wants to say.. but unfortunately he seems to be getting caught up in a lot of municipal red tape!

Before he came, the mayor of Dearborn asked him to change the demonstration site to City Hall. It seems to me that, if you think Dearborn is being run under Sharia law, the place to make your protest should be where the city's laws are made and enforced.. but as my friend Vince (who also grew up in Dearborn) said, that's too logical for them.

Or else, if he insists on having it at the Islamic Center, where there is little public space, that he pay a bond to cover the expenses of extra police presence, crowd control, emergency services, whatever..

It also turns out that close by on the road where the mosque is there are also several churches, which of course will be holding Good Friday services tomorrow afternoon.

He refuses to pay the bond.

Now a trial will be held tomorrow to determine if he has to pay this bond and if he doesn't and holds the demo anyway, he is liable to go to jail. (He says he will go to jail rather than pay up, noble martyr for the cause that he is.)

His main concern is that the trial is finished before his planned start-time for the demo, 5pm, which it may not be..

Stay tuned for updates!

[moosmom]

He is an @$$hat with WAY too much time on his hands. I hope he rots in jail. He is nothing more than a trouble maker who is stirring a volitile pot.

[phesina]

A large number of clergy members of ALL faiths joined hands and surrounded the mosque yesterday evening and plan to do so again today.

[Grace]

He's not going to do anything until the trial, by jury, is over. The prosecutors might show a video of the burning of the Quran from last month.

[Karen]

A large number of clergy members of ALL faiths joined hands and surrounded the mosque yesterday evening and plan to do so again today.

Yay, good for them. Good people of faith can band together peacefully and outshine this idjit.

[Freedom]

I understand why we have the Fist Amendment, and why we must uphold this Right.

Really. I DO.

I just don't understand why we have to uphold HIS first amendment right.

[phesina]

It's after 6pm (EST) now, and the jury is still deliberating. He said before that if he wasn't able to hold his demo today, he'd come back next week and do it.

In spite of the cold and rainy weather, several hundred people of all faiths are out in the civic area around the courthouse now, holding an "I am an American" rally in support of religious freedom and tolerance.

There is also a HUGE police presence around the area. Turns out there are several credible death threats out there now directed AT Mr. Jones.. so in effect the cops are on the scene to protect him from himself!

[phesina]

I understand why we have the Fist Amendment, and why we must uphold this Right.

Really. I DO.

I just don't understand why we have to uphold HIS first amendment right.

The trial isn't about isn't his freedom of speech. The issue under jury deliberation is whether he can be required to post a "peace bond" to cover expenses for police/medical response in the event of disruption resulting after his speech.

The Rev. Terry Jones told the jury in his opening statement on Friday morning that the First Amendment protects his right to hold a peaceful protest outside the Islamic Center of America.

A prosecutor said Jones' past actions are evidence that the protest planned for 5 p.m. threatens the peace.

District Judge Mark Somers ruled Thursday the city of Dearborn didn't violate Jones' free speech rights by denying him a permit to protest outside the mosque. Somers said Jones rejected four alternative sites listed in a city ordinance. Jones has said he won't post any bond and said he won't change the protest location.