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Florida Pastor Arrested on His Way to Burn Qurans

According to a report from USA Today, Florida pastor Terry Jones was apprehended on Sept. 11 as he drove to a local park pulling a barbecue grill filled with Qurans soaked with lighter fluid. Jones had earlier promised to burn 2,998 Qurans on Wednesday 9/11, representing one book for each casualty of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. (The L.A. Times reported that Jones may have accidentally included the 19 hijackers in his count.) Jones was arrested for unlawful conveyance of fuel and was also charged with open-carry of a firearm. 

Jones pastors a small evangelical Christian church in Polk County, Fla. and founded an organization, Stand Up America Now. His congregation did burn the Muslim holy book in March 2011, and last year he promoted an anti-Muslim film. Jones’ actions have sparked violence in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and the military has repeatedly asked Jones not to stage any more of these protests because they put American servicepeople in harm’s way.