A Florida pastor has been arrested as he drove to a park to light nearly 3000 Korans on fire to protest the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Sheriff's deputies arrested Pastor Terry Jones, 61, and his associate pastor, Marvin Sapp Jr, 34, on Wednesday on felony charges as he drove a pickup truck towing a large barbecue-style grill filled with Korans soaked in kerosene.
He had said he was heading to a nearby park to burn 2998 Korans - one for every victim of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Mulberry's mayor, along with area elected officials, a sheriff's deputy and several Polk County residents have talked about the need to express love and tolerance for all faiths on September 11.
Jones is the pastor of a small evangelical Christian church. He first gained attention in 2010 when he planned to burn a Koran on 9/11, although he eventually called it off. His congregation did burn the Muslim holy book in March 2011 and last year he promoted an anti-Muslim film. All three incidents sparked violence in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
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The most violent protest happened after the 2011 Koran burning as hundreds of protesters stormed a UN compound in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, killing seven foreigners, including four Nepalese guards.
Jones has repeatedly ignored pleas from the US military asking him not to stage his protests. Military officials say his actions put American and Western troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere in danger.
Mulberry is a town of about 3000 between Orlando and Tampa and has no connection to Jones' church, which recently moved out of its Gainesville building.
Earlier on Wednesday, about 75 people gathered in Mulberry for an inter-faith prayer service to counter Jones' actions.
