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Gainesville pastor plans to put Quran on trial

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 13, 2011

The Rev. Terry Jones, who made an international name for himself last year when he announced he was going to burn the Quran at his Gainesville church, now is staging an "International Judge the Quran Day."

"Yes, we're going to do it," Jones said on a YouTube address announcing the event. "We have decided to do it on March 20 starting at 6 p.m. It's your opportunity, all you so-called peaceful Muslims. On that day the Quran will be put on trial.

"We are accusing the Quran of murder, rape, deception," he said, "and being responsible for terrorist activities all over the world."

Basically, it's a trial, he told a Tampa Bay area audience on WFLA-AM 970 on Wednesday morning. Judgment day will take place on the grounds of his church, the Dove World Outreach Center.

"We are challenging the Muslim world to defend the Quran," he said on the radio show.

"They say the Quran is a book of peace and a religion of peace," he said. "We are asking them to present to us a defense person who will try to defend the Quran."

He called the book "evil."

He said a jury of about 30 people, made up of Christians and Muslims, will decide.

"If found guilty," he said, "there are four forms of punishment: burning, drowning, shredding or firing squad."

Jones' website, Stand Up America, contains a survey on which visitors can pick a punishment.

Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, said Jones is trying to get the spotlight again and he recommended that the media not report on Jones.

"He's an opportunist who is trying to promote himself," Musri said. "I believe the media should ignore him. They shouldn't give him the time of day."

Jones and his church sparked worldwide controversy last year when he announced a plan to burn 200 copies of the Quran, Islam's holiest book, on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Musri met with Jones last year to help find a resolution.

Leaders of various faiths condemned his plan and even Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called Jones' small church in northwest Gainesville and urged him to cancel the event because of worry that the action would endanger U.S. troops in the Middle East.

Jones backed off on the threat two days before the scheduled burning.

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