Pastor Terry Jones, famous for burning Korans, was released on bail this morning after being arrested on Sept. 11 in a truck full of nearly 3,000 kerosene-soaked copies of the Muslim holy book.
Jones had coordinated an event called "Worldwide Burning of 2998 Korans" to mark the 12th anniversary of September 11, which he had advertised weeks.
According to the Atlantic Wire, Jone's organization, Stand Up America Now, originally had a permit for the Koran-burning event. But with a last-minute change of location, they ended up not having a permit to proceed legally. Jones later said that he planned to go ahead with setup and burning 2998 copies of the Koran in public park anyways, which resulted in his arrest by Polk County Sheriffs.
Some of the 3,000 kerosene-soaked Korans were inside a grill that was being towed behind a truck.
According to the sheriff's department, Jones faces two charges: unlawful conveyance of fuel, and unlawful open carry of a firearm, My Fox Tampa Bay reports.
Jones' vehicle was pulled over by sheriffs around 5 p.m. witnesses reported seeing Jones carrying a gun by his hip at a McDonalds parking lot. Meanwhile, the vehicle's driver, 44-year-old Marvin Wayne Sapp was also arrested.
Meanwhile, Wayne Sapp's wife told FOX 13 that the arrests were "a very dangerous sign to us as Americans, as citizens, and to the First Amendment."
In the past, military leaders have blamed Jones's Koran-burning demonstrations for attacks against American troops in the Middle East. However, Stephanie Sapps rejected this link.
"We are not responsible for those acts of violence," she insisted. "Those acts of violence are committed by people 7,000, 8,000 miles away. Those people need to be held accountable for those acts."
