Detroit, USA - Wayne County prosecutors are arguing a Good Friday mosque protest by a controversial Florida pastor could incite a riot and are moving to require him to post a bond before his demonstration.
Judge Mark W. Somers of Dearborn's 19th District Court on Friday ordered Terry Jones to appear Thursday to answer prosecutors' claims that his planned protest of the Islamic Center of America on the Dearborn/Detroit border could spark violence. The hearing is set for 3 p.m.
Prosecutors want a "peace bond" from Jones to pay for additional police officers during his demonstration outside the mosque. The complaint doesn't specify an amount, but Jones has said Dearborn police want him to pay $100,000 in overtime costs.
"The greatest threat is the likelihood of a riot ensuing, complete with the discharge of firearms, unless this proposed bond is granted," according to the prosecutors' complaint.
Jones gained notoriety last year for threatening to burn a Quran to protest a proposed Islamic center near the site of the former World Trade Center in Manhattan. He backed off that plan, but burned a copy of the Islamic holy book at his church in April, an act that was captured online and is blamed for an outbreak in violence in Afghanistan.
In an affidavit, Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad feared Jones could do it again.
"I believe Pastor Jones intends to engage in conduct that will put his safety and that of the public at risk," Haddad wrote. "Intelligence received leads me to believe that Pastor Jones will jeopardize the safety of the public by committing an act against the person or property of another in the former of burning a Koran."
Jones has denied that his intent and said he only wants to protest extremist Islam and Sharia, the law of the religion. His staffers today said he hasn't received a copy of the complaint. But he has said he plans to protest, even if the city of Dearborn denies his permit.
The complaint quotes an associate of his telling Dearborn police that both he and Jones "would be carrying their pistols" to the rally.
A group of religious leaders, meanwhile, is making a last-ditch effort to persuade Jones to change his mind.
They held a news conference today at the Greater Mt. Tabor Baptist Church on West Chicago on the city's west side. Wearing light-blue and white T-shirts that read "I Am American…I Am American…I AM American.", the clergy members implored Jones to stay away.
"I would call on Terry Jones not to come to Dearborn," said Imam Hassan Qazwini, of the Islamic Center of America, which is listed in court papers as the nation's largest mosque.
"What he is doing is inciting hatred against Muslims. We do not think what he is doing is helping our community, our society or our country."
Metro Detroit religious leaders are planning prayer vigils both Thursday and Friday in Dearborn as a show of solidarity against Jones' visit.
The Rev. Edwin Rowe, of Central United Methodist Church downtown, urged others religious leaders and others in Metro Detroit to speak out against Jones.
"What we need to do is to put an arm of protection around the subject of this hate," said Rowe. "This is a violation of Christianity. This is a violation of Judaism. This is a violation of Hinduism. This is a violation of every major faith in the world."
Others including Imam Abdullah El Amin of the Muslim Center on the city's west side, said Jones' visit is an opportunity to show the nation that interfaith religious leaders cooperate in Metro Detroit.
Jones, of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., was in the news again last weekend, when the New York Times reported his claim that he was fooled into backing down from plans to burn 200 Qurans to protest the Islamic center mosque in New York.
The newspaper reported that Jones produced a recording of a conversation with an imam who promised to relocate the mosque if the pastor backed down from his plans.
Leaders of the mosque have denied making any promises.