Dr. Terry Jones charged with... felony?

[srad]

As much as I detest the actions of Terry Jones, I must defend his right to do it. The town of Mulberry and the county of Polk have abridged and infringed upon Mr. Jones' constitutionally protected civil right to free expression simply because they don't agree with him. To arrest him on undeclared felony charges is beyond the pale. I hope he sues with extreme prejudice and soaks the city and county in proportion to their stupidity.

Florida pastor arrested before he could burn 2,998 Qurans on anniversary of 9/11 attacks - The Washington Post

 

[Tombs]

I'd support him if he had chosen to do it on his own property. Starting a massive fire in a public park isn't really a good idea.

I would totally support having his charges bumped down to a slap on the wrist and a reminder not to use a public park as a burn pit.


If people think this endangers the military... The military is there because there is a supposed threat on our liberties posed by the enemy they're fighting.
Letting the enemy take away our rights one way or another means we've lost the war.

 

[9mmfan]

Kind of odd that he gets arrested for something that is routinely done to American flags and bibles inside and outside of this country. Do we really have a First Amendment?

 

[singlesix]

But it's OK to burn the US Flag.

 

[Bunnykid68]

Charged with a felony for something he had not done yet........I seriously hope charges are dropped, which I bet they will be, because face it, he did nothing, literally nothing

 

[Bunnykid68]

But it's OK to burn the US Flag.

Hell, I burn one a month. U.S. is more likely to harm me than some muslim with his bible

 

[Zephri]

I wonder if bacon grease is flammable......

 

[level.eleven]

Charged with a felony for something he had not done yet........I seriously hope charges are dropped, which I bet they will be, because face it, he did nothing, literally nothing

Except driving around towing a smoker filled with 3000 kerosene doused books, no registration for the trailer, and unlawful open carry. The plan being to light this contraption in the middle of the local park was something he was told he couldn't do. Police in this small town, not even the home of his "ministry", didn't want his brand of coo-coo so they had been in contact with him leading up to the arrest. Nothing to do with speech at all.

Pastor Terry Jones Arrested with a Truck Full of 3,000 Kerosene-Soaked Korans - Abby Ohlheiser - The Atlantic Wire

 

[j706]

I sure as heck do not care if he burns any number of Korans. We need to stop being concerned about what the muslims think. As others have said this whining comes from radical idiots that burn US flags, kill US citizens and cut off peoples heads. Screw all of those radical's and what they think.

 

[LEaSH]

I can't believe you're a cop. I really can't.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm guessing the results would have been the same even if they were phone books. Soaking a few thousand books in kerosene and then towing them to the local park to set them ablaze is probably going to cause you to run afoul of the local constabulary, regardless of the content of the books.

Mr. Jones' constitutionally protected civil right to free expression simply because they don't agree with him. To arrest him on undeclared felony charges is beyond the pale.

The charges are declared:

He faces charges of unlawfully transporting fuel and openly carrying a firearm. Deputies said Jones was riding in a pickup truck that was towing a smoker and trailer filled with kerosene-soaked Qurans. He also had extra bottles of kerosene inside the truck bed.

source: Pastor Terry Jones arrested with kerosene-soaked Qurans - OrlandoSentinel.com

I'm curious if you think that just because you are "engaging in free speech" you no longer have to obey other laws? If I decided to fly a plane with a anti-Obama banner flying behind it, then get in trouble because I'm not a pilot and don't have a license to fly, did I really get in trouble for exercising my 1st Amendment rights?

 

[HoughMade]

...unlawfully transporting fuel. I'm going to have to take a look at that one.

[edit]

The law applies to "motor fuel" or "diesel fuel". I question whether kerosene is "motor fuel", but maybe their definitions are loosy goosy enough that kerosene is categorized as diesel.

 

[patience0830]

...unlawfully transporting fuel. I'm going to have to take a look at that one.

[edit]

The law applies to "motor fuel" or "diesel fuel". I question whether kerosene is "motor fuel", but maybe their definitions are loosy goosy enough that kerosene is categorized as diesel.

Isn't kerosene just number 1 diesel? It's all petroleum distillate to me.

 

[srad]

I'm curious if you think that just because you are "engaging in free speech" you no longer have to obey other laws?

Nope, "play stupid games win stupid prizes"... if the arrest was for breaking existing law, then that's on him.

 

[nawainwright]

Except driving around towing a smoker filled with 3000 kerosene doused books, no registration for the trailer, and unlawful open carry. The plan being to light this contraption in the middle of the local park was something he was told he couldn't do. Police in this small town, not even the home of his "ministry", didn't want his brand of coo-coo so they had been in contact with him leading up to the arrest. Nothing to do with speech at all.

Pastor Terry Jones Arrested with a Truck Full of 3,000 Kerosene-Soaked Korans - Abby Ohlheiser - The Atlantic Wire

As much as I think these are trumped up charges that normally would have gotten him ticketed and sent on his way, they are true. If you're going to do something controversial, you need to dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s to make sure there isn't anything they can pick you up for. I understand the firearm, you never know who is going to try to do something crazy to stop you. Soaking the books first I understand as a man pouring gallons of kerosene on a BBQ in a park would be disconcerting. But REGISTER YOUR DAMN TRAILER MAN! Thats the first thing you're gonna get pulled over for. Or better yet, do it on your own damn property and not in a public park.

Claim his 1st Amendment rights have been suspended all you want, I agree, but lets not pretend that this guy wasn't freaking stupid about how he went about this.

 

[Smokepole]

...unlawfully transporting fuel. I'm going to have to take a look at that one.

[edit]

The law applies to "motor fuel" or "diesel fuel". I question whether kerosene is "motor fuel", but maybe their definitions are loosy goosy enough that kerosene is categorized as diesel.

Kerosene is the primary component of jet fuel. The current mix that the military uses - JP-8 - is also used in tanks and many other similarly powered vehicles and anywhere else they can apply it for continuity and simplicity.

 

[gunrunner0]

As much as I think these are trumped up charges that normally would have gotten him ticketed and sent on his way, they are true. If you're going to do something controversial, you need to dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s to make sure there isn't anything they can pick you up for. I understand the firearm, you never know who is going to try to do something crazy to stop you. Soaking the books first I understand as a man pouring gallons of kerosene on a BBQ in a park would be disconcerting. But REGISTER YOUR DAMN TRAILER MAN! Thats the first thing you're gonna get pulled over for. Or better yet, do it on your own damn property and not in a public park.

Claim his 1st Amendment rights have been suspended all you want, I agree, but lets not pretend that this guy wasn't freaking stupid about how he went about this.

This.

I support his right to burn Korans, though I don't agree with his doing it. Regardless, he should have figured that in doing something that the town government clearly wasn't happy about they were going to look for a way to stop him. He apparently gave not one, but three ways to do so. Anybody can get stopped for an expired trailer plate, the unlawful transport and OC charges were probably a little bit over-prosecuted but he still broke the law.

In regards to Kerosene being a motor fuel issue, I would say that since there are widely available motors, such as that in the venerable deuce and a half as well as several generators, which are capable of funning on Kerosene, this is a moot point.

 

[giovani]

And how do you suppose the local government is going to dispose of 3000 kerosene soaked books?

they sure can't bury them in a landfill.

 

[CathyInBlue]

They could incinerate them.

Jus' sayin'.

 

[giovani]

Kind of what i meant, they are going to get burned one way of another.