Michigan judge orders Florida pastor to jail after he refuses $1 bond for mosque protest

4/22/2011
BY DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
  • david-grisham-terry-jones-dearborn

    David Grisham, center, a pastor from Amarillo, Texas, is confronted by Melissa Green, left, in Orange City, Mich., along with other protesters as he tries to leave the 19th District Courthouse in Dearborn after testifying in support of Rev. Terry Jones.

    THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON
    Buy This Image

    • Pastor Terry Jones, right, and Rev. Wayne Sapp react to the jury's verdict, that both of them are likely to cause a breach of the peace with their proposed protest against at the Islamic Center of America.
    Pastor Terry Jones, right, and Rev. Wayne Sapp react to the jury's verdict, that both of them are likely to cause a breach of the peace with their proposed protest against at the Islamic Center of America.

    DEARBORN, Mich. —  In a stunning conclusion to a daylong trial, a jury found controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones a threat to public safety and the minister was carted off to jail after refusing to post a $1 peace bond.

    The trial Friday in Michigan’s 19th District Court was held after Mr. Jones was denied a permit to hold a rally against radical Islam in front of the largest mosque in North America, in a city with the largest Arab Muslim population in the United States.

    The two men posted bond shortly after their incarceration.

    Prosecutors argued that Mr. Jones and his associate, the Rev. Wayne Sapp, were free to speak at one of the city’s four designated “free speech zones,” but the ministers opposed restrictions on their First Amendment rights to free speech and free assembly.

    A jury of six reached a unanimous verdict that the Florida pastors and their Stand Up America Now rally, which had been scheduled for 5 p.m. on Good Friday at the Islamic Center of North America, were a threat to public safety.

    Judge Mark Somers said the verdict required him to set a bond, and after prosecutors recommended it be set at $25,000, the judge instead set it at $1 for Mr. Jones and $1 for Mr. Sapp.

    David Grisham, center, a pastor from Amarillo, Texas, is confronted by Melissa Green, left, in Orange City, Mich., along with other protesters as he tries to leave the 19th District Courthouse in Dearborn after testifying in support of Rev. Terry Jones.
    David Grisham, center, a pastor from Amarillo, Texas, is confronted by Melissa Green, left, in Orange City, Mich., along with other protesters as he tries to leave the 19th District Courthouse in Dearborn after testifying in support of Rev. Terry Jones.
    The judge also said the pair could not go to the Islamic Center of America or to the property nearby for the length of the bond, which was three years.

    Asked if they were prepared to post bond, both Mr. Jones and Mr. Sapp said no without explanation. The judge then ordered the pastors to be jailed until they posted bond.

    The rally that was scheduled for Friday night never took place. Mr. Jones had said earlier that if the trial went too long he would reschedule the demonstration for next week. There was no indication whether there will be a Stand Up America Now rally in Dearborn.